Impossible Reality
by CKthePhantomess
Summary: When Kaiba goes to Pegasus's Island to accuse Pegasus of theft, both of them vanish without a trace. Then, Yugi and his friends go to investigate. But what do you do when tragedy strikes and no one can explain why the impossible is happening?
1. The Prologue

CK: This story takes place immediately after Kaiba was rescued from his video game that his executives messed up. This is my first serious fic, so please don't send me too many fireballs. Um, and don't get too mad if I don't update very quickly. I'll be lucky if I can post a new chapter once a week. Just to warn you. I've got another fic going on, and it's hard for me to type as much as I want every three or four days, so both of these stories may take awhile to write.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh.  
  
!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!  
  
Impossible Reality  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
As the dark limo pulled to a stop, several men in dark suits took in sharp breaths as though they were waiting for the presence of royalty. Instead, out stepped one Maximillian Pegasus, newly released from the hospital for therapy for his newly lost eye. Cruquet bowed his head slightly and greeted him. Pegasus had changed during his stay at the hospital....and he didn't mean getting a glass eye. Pegasus had always seemed carefree before, and he'd always looked like you could never hurt him or depress him. He'd had the attitude of a young boy, and even with his hair color, he's looked the part. But now......Pegasus had acquired the hard lines on his face that you can only get from feeling the harsh cruelty of great pain......and with his face set into a deep scowl like that, it was hard to tell that this was the same man who'd been lecturing Kaiba on comics only two months ago.............. Cruquet didn't mean to be concerned, but he was worried........if Pegasus hadn't been his employer, they might have been friends.......and it wasn't like him to look so miserable.........  
  
But of course, Cruquet would never understand what was wrong..........  
  
Pegasus turned to Cruquet "How are things running back here?" "Smoothly, sir." "Good." "All of the staff have been awaiting your return for some time now." "Yes, I know. I'm afraid that everyone's presence was unnecessary. I was planning on giving everyone another week off to themselves." Confusion showed on Cruquet's face. "If I may ask, sir......" "You see, Industrial Illusions has been suffering ever since I had to leave, and I just want to spend a week or so fixing up business so that no- one need fear about their livelihood." Pegasus smiled grimly. "In any case, I won't be needing anyone for awhile, so all of you can relax at home for a short while............ "Sir, with all due respect, you just got out of the hospital. I doubt that you will be in the condition to....." "Think nothing of it. I'm much better now, really, and it's an excuse for all of you to take a vacation. I'll call you if there is some unforeseen reason I need anyone." Cruquet was about to protest, but knew that arguing with him would be pointless. Instead, he remembered his place, and said absolutely nothing.  
  
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ It was three o'clock at the Kaiba house.  
  
Seto Kaiba pushed open the door to his home office as he listened to Mokuba happily recount every detail of his day at school. Seto would occasionally nod or remark, but his main focus seemed to be on the pile of mail he had just received.  
  
"And then during Math, Sora was supposed to go up and do a problem on the board, only she told Ms. Kawagato that she didn't wanna, and Ms. Kawagato says I don't care if you wanna, you have to do a problem on the board, and Sora said no, and Ms. Kawagato got mad, and now Sora's got detention for a week, and whatcha lookin' at big brother?"  
  
Kaiba was staring at the contents of a small envelope that he had just received. Inside were a one-page letter and a small check for a rather large amount of money. "What the fuck....?"  
  
"Wow, big brother, that's a lot of money. Whatcha gonna do with it?"  
  
Kaiba immediately scrambled for his computer. "First I'm gonna find out who it is who sent this."  
  
Mokuba picked up the letter and read it out loud. It was short and to the point.  
  
"To Mr. Seto Kaiba,  
  
Due to some delay with your delivering of a promised good that was supposed to be delivered three months ago, I have sent you the agreed price for your machinery and have personally picked it up from your business so as not to inconvenience you. I believe this should provide a proper explanation for Item ID 7829348's disappearance."  
  
The letter wasn't signed. "Um, big brother, what does all of this mean?" "It means some bastard has a stick in his ass about having to wait for something the company said they'd sell him awhile ago." "Oh.........so what's the big deal?" "The big deal is that if you order something from the company, you have to wait your turn just like everyone else so other people don't start sending in more angry letters complaining about how THEY have to wait." "So whatcha gonna do about it?" "Knowing how some of these rich bastards think, I'm gonna have to go p to them personally and threaten them with a lawsuit." Kaiba logged in to Kaiba Corp.'s data-base. "Computer, has anyone been to Kaiba Corp. to pick up Item 7829348?" The computer beeped back a response. "Yes, we did have one man come for that item........two days ago, I believe." "Well?????? Who was it?????"  
  
"Oh, he didn't give us his name, but I'm pretty sure I know him from somewhere.....oh yes, his name is Cruquet. Joseph Cruquet." ^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^  
  
CK: So what did you think? Please review; it makes me want to write faster and all. And it gets better!!!!!! The story gets better!!!!!! And to my friend Daine, who's probably out there reading this: Yes, I KNOW that the first chapter was longer when I first wrote it, but it'll be easier if I just chop some of the longer segments into smaller chapters. To everyone else pleeeeeeeeeeease review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I promise that this story isn't all serious; there are some funny parts later!!!!!!!! 


	2. Caveat Emptor: Let the BUYER beware?

CK: Okay, people, I'm back, and its new chappie time! NOW things get interesting! NOW we actually get to a piece of the PLOT!!!!!!!! And I'm sorry I took so long to update, I have the curse of the Very Busy Schedule. Heehee. Oh, by the way, to all the Kaiba people out there: I know that Kaiba's acting a little jerky right now, but I promise, once the story gets itself rolling, then Kaiba calms down and acts nicer. Well, actually, almost all the characters are going to go through stages of jerkiness in this story, so he's not the only one.......But I'm talking too much. So stop reading the intro, let's get to the story!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, yeah, does Kaiba ONLY make computer stuff, or does he make other machines? If he DOESN'T make other machines, well, then I'm screwed, cuz if I want the plot to work out right, he has to make other stuff. So let's just pretend for awhile that he has a little sub-company that he bought that makes other machines.........................  
  
Oh yeah, and I do not own Yugioh. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Caveat Emptor?-Let the BUYER beware?  
  
Pegasus opened his eye groggily and looked around him. He groaned. This was the third time he'd drifted off to sleep!!!!!! Why couldn't he stay awake????????  
  
Because you've been working non-stop for three days........  
  
Pegasus sighed as he heard himself answer his own question. He surveyed his laboratory. It looked like a tornado had blown in. Well, he didn't have any time to clean up or organize. This project had to be finished immediately.........  
  
He almost laughed when he thought of the look of disapproval on Croquet's face if he knew how hard he was working. Which Pegasus supposed was why he hadn't exactly been telling Croquet the truth..............but it wouldn't matter. Once this was all over with Croquet would have other things to worry about......................  
  
Much more serious things.............. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kaiba's helicopter soared over the calm, graceful ocean waters towards Pegasus's island.  
  
Kaiba sat in his seat, lost in thought, when a high-pitched groan broke his concentration.  
  
"Kaiba, when are we going to get there? I don't know why you even brought me along in the first place?"  
  
"Ever heard of a little something known as 'patience', Mai? We'll be getting there in just a couple more minutes." "Well, why DID you bring me? This seems so pointless......" She cocked an eyebrow. "And a girl's gotta wonder." "Oh, shit, nothing like that. What, you don't appreciate another paycheck?" "No, paychecks are FINE with me. My problem is that the last time I did a job for you, I ended up having to fight a six-headed dragon and nearly got killed."  
  
"Look, that wasn't my fault. And anyway, this job should be a lot easier. I'll just deal with Pegasus, and you get to stay and wait outside." "You're avoiding the question." "Look, you want an honest answer? Right now there are about fifty suits swarming Pegasus's castle. I don't think that any one of them would exactly be happy if I decided to waltz in with lawsuit threats." Mai made small circles with her hands. "And where exactly do I come in?"  
  
"You get the small but oh-so-important job of distracting the suits." "Oh...I get it. 'Distracting' the suits. Oh, VERY nice." Kaiba shrugged. "Interpret that as you will." "Shut up." As Mai finished speaking, the helicopter began to slow down, and then hover over Duelist Kingdom Island. As the two of them walked towards and inside the castle, one thing seemed to grow clearer and clearer to them. Mai spoke first "We're the only ones here, aren't we?" "It looks that way....shit, this doesn't make sense. There was a big thing in the papers three days ago about his return from the hospital, so where the fuck could he be? And where are all his suits?" "He wouldn't have gone on a business trip or anything so quickly after he went to the hospital......" "Fuck it, this makes no sense. Let's look around for any signs of life." "Fine." After about fifteen minutes of fruitless searching, Kaiba paused at the top of a large stairwell that led to the dungeon area of the castle. Mai stopped to stare at him. "What's wrong?" "I could've sworn I just heard foot-steps down there." He turned to Mai, and then began to quickly cross the staircase. "Hold on, I'm just going to check it out. I'll be back in about five minutes." Mai watched him disappear into the darkness of the dungeons........... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kaiba surveyed Pegasus's laboratory uneasily..........papers, books, wires, metal, all strewn around the room. There was a long line of machines, all connected together, yet also strewn throughout the whole room..........the room itself seemed ready to collapse, its wooden beams looking as though they were rotting away.......yet, throughout this entire pigsty, there seemed to be no signs of human life........ Kaiba supposed that his machine must be down here somewhere......it sure looked like everything else in the castle got shoved down here, anyway......so he began rummaging through the sea of stuff in order to look for it.......  
  
(A/N: It's not a very BIG machine, cuz this whole chain of stuff only fits in one lab anyway....................)  
  
Kaiba pushed aside some things and began to search...... "What kind of tornado made this sort of mess?........" To Kaiba's horror, an all-too-familiar voice answered: "Well, I'll admit it's messy, but if I'd known I'd be having guests, I might have cleaned up a bit. Though I have to admit, I woudn't be able to do much with the wood in this place, molds have been eating away at it while I've been gone. I suppose that's what I get for building this place on an island."*** Kaiba turned around to see Pegasus standing at another doorway connecting to the room. Kaiba stared at him for awhile.....He looked so different. Two months ago, he had looked only thirtyish.....now he had all these lines in his face and looked like he was over fifty......what had HAPPENED to him????? Kaiba's concentration was broken when Pegasus spoke again. "Really, Kaiba-boy, you have to learn some manners. Weren't you ever taught that it's rude to barge into someone's house without knocking first?" "Not as rude as someone sending suits to grab some machinery right under other people's noses." "Well, that may be true, Kaiba-boy, but it's somewhat necessary when other people can't keep their promises about delivering certain items to their customers." "You're exaggerating. There must have been a problem with shipment...." "Liar. You canceled the order and you know it....."  
  
"You think I'd sink that low?" "Kaiba-boy, I KNOW you did."  
  
"And how exactly would that be?"  
  
"Let's just say I've been keeping track of your company's records for some time now....."  
  
Kaiba was glowering by this point. "YOU'VE BEEN HACKING MY COMPUTERS?!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Technically, no. Back during your little 'vacation' after dueling Yugi, your board of directors so kindly provided me with the passwords to your corporation's website." Pegasus grinned mischievously. "Besides, I don't think that YOU would really have much to say about the moral wrongs of computer hacking. After all, there was that little incident with an Industrial Illusions satellite back during Duelist Kingdom. That was the biggest computer crash to ever happen, I believe....of course, you wouldn't have had ANYTHING to do with that, now would you Kaiba-boy?" Kaiba tried to think of something to say, but everything that came to mind sounded childish......kind of like everything else that had been said in this conversation. Kaiba finally sighed resignedly and said: "Listen, all I want my machine back. No big argument or anything."  
  
"Why? No one's ordered an ERC machine for years, there's no demand for it. You might as well let a paying customer get it. " "Wait, how...? "Corporation password, remember?"  
  
"Right........well, how about I put it bluntly: I do not like you, I hate you guts, and I don't think I could ever let myself live knowing that one of my machines was helping you out." Despite Kaiba's apparent loathing, Pegasus only shrugged. "So be it. I'll make a deal with you, however, Kaiba-boy. Just let me use the ERC for an hour and you can take it back with you then. I'll even let you keep the check I sent you, since it is in a completely different room as of now. I only need it for that short period of time." Kaiba slit his eyes. "What are you trying to pull?"  
  
"No game, Kaiba. I'll even show you where the machine is now, so you can come get it as soon as the hour is up." Pegasus pushed some of his hair behind his ear. "I'm afraid I'll be detained after that, but just give me one hour..."  
  
"You bastard, you're playing me for a jackass. You're up to something.........."  
  
Pegasus cocked an eyebrow. "Awfully suspicious aren't you?"  
  
"I've got good reason to be. What the fuck would you be up to for only an hour?......." Pegasus angled his eyebrows, and continued to fumble with his strand of hair. "I assure you, there's not much I'd be able to do. If it eases your mind at all, I'll show you where the ERC is and you can inspect it to your heart's content, and as long as you don't see anything wrong with it, I'll just borrow it." Pegasus was talking quickly, as though he were in a hurry. Kaiba was still suspicious, but he couldn't really see any way that Pegasus was doing something sinister...anymore, anyway. But he had this sneaking doubt........ But Kaiba had no time to finish that thought. Because no matter what you may think, rotting floorboards aren't just disgusting. They're dangerous....... Especially when two people and a large mass of papers and machines are lying in top of them....... The floor beneath them swayed and buckled, and soon, they snapped like frail twigs, sending the two of them into a black pit of darkness.................. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CK: Okay, I know that chapter was probably EXTREMELY boring because of all the dialogue, so sorry. I'll try and lessen the amount of talking next chappie. And SweetCandie, thank you SO much for reviewing. I'll try to update by this weekend, if not, later, so pleeeease read and review!! The good stuff's coming up next chappie!!!!!! 


	3. The Stone Starts to Roll

Hey people! Welcome back, and thanks for the reviews! Um, small note before the next chapter I just wanna tell the readers something: Even though I base all my stories on English version Yugioh, I do NOT pretend that the Yugioh characters all live in America. The characters that come from Japan still come from Japan in my stories, and characters from America are still from America. Also, I, like almost everyone else, call Bakura's character Ryou and Yami Bakura gets called Bakura. Okay, now let's get this story rolling!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, but Bakura and I have a plan to steal the papers! Wish us luck!!!!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 2: The Stone Begins To Roll  
  
Yugi Moto and Joey Wheeler both stood outside the entrance to Domino High School, comparing Duel Monster strategies and tips while waiting for the rest of their friends. "Joey, I don't think it's gonna be easy to get all those Equip Magic Cards onto your Flame Swordsman. Besides, Raigeki isn't even an Equip card in the first place...." "Whateva.........Hey Yugi, swap ya my Magical Scapegoats fa ya Dahk Magician." "No Joey." "Please????????????"  
  
"NO." Their conversation halted to an abrupt start when a loud screeching sound was heard. "HEY KID!!!!!! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!!!!!!!" "Sorry, sir...." A small kid crossed the street, and hopped up to the sidewalk, walking slowly. Joey stared after the kid for a moment. "'Ey....isn't dat Mokuba?"  
  
Yugi squinted for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Why?" "Dat's weihd, cuz doesn't Kaiba usually pick 'is brotha up from school? Why's Mokuba wahkin' all by 'imself?"  
  
Yugi shrugged. "Well, Kaiba's been absent for the past two days. He's probably just sick and couldn't give Mokuba a ride." "Yeah, but.....Kaiba's got all these limos and stuff. Couldn't he just get one of his chauffeurs to drive Mokuba home?" "Yeah I guess so....well, Kaiba probably needs to get his homework by now, so maybe we should go pay him a visit." Joey groaned. "Like flies to a spida-web....." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fifteen minutes later, Yugi, Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Ryou all stood outside of the Kaiba mansion. Yugi rang the doorbell. Five seconds later, Mokuba opened the door, a look of hopeful expectation on his face. As soon as he saw who was at the door, however, his face fell. "Oh...hey Yugi. What's up?" "Hey Mokuba. We just came over to give Kaiba his homework, since he's been out since Monday." Mokuba nodded glumly. "Okay....come in, let me just get a pen and some paper so I can write it down..."  
  
Everyone else stepped inside as Mokuba ran into the kitchen. When he came back, he copied everything off of Yugi's assignment pad, while Yugi started to ask him some friendly questions. "So what's wrong with your brother?" "Oh, he's really sick and he's not going to be in school for awhile." "Ouch. How bad is it?"  
  
"Pretty bad. He's been sleeping all day. But he'll be fine........"  
  
"Oh okay........" Yugi looked concerned. Mokuba seemed to be really worried..........his eyes were red, like he'd been crying lately.... "Mokuba, are you alright?"  
  
"Huh?...Oh, I'm fine, I..." The phone rang. "Hang on one second......."  
  
Mokuba went to get the cordless phone on the table next to him. "Hello?.....Oh, hi.......Yeah, I know Mai, but..........well what do you expect me to do?........WHO???......well, I don't know, either, Mai........look, Mai there's nothing much I can do.........Yes, I know your cell phone number....Yes, I'll call you if anything happens........Okay....Bye..." Mokuba hung up the phone and turned to Yugi and company. "That was just Mai.....she needed...to call....something about my Seto, she's getting another job here or something........" By this point tears were flowing freely down Mokuba's cheeks. He tried to wipe them away, but everyone could easily see just how upset he was. Tea put her arm around Mokuba's shoulders, and tried to comfort him. "Ssh, Mokuba, it's okay. What's wrong? Is it your brother?" Mokuba nodded. "Alright...is he really sick? Is it something serious?...." Mokuba shook his head. "No...he's not sick...."  
  
"Well, then where is he? What's wrong?"  
  
Mokuba started to sob. "I DON'T KNOW!! I don't know where he is, he's been gone for the past three days.......he left Saturday afternoon with Mai....and now no-one knows where he is....." Tea pulled Mokuba in for a hug. Mokuba continued "He...he just disappeared.....Mai's been looking for him all this time, but he's not anywhere............." "He's just lost, probably, Mokuba, or something like that......."  
  
"NO!! He's not lost!!!!!!!"  
  
Tea looked a little startled. "What do you mean, Mokuba?......" Mokuba tried desperately to hold back the tears that were beginning to replace the ones already flowing down his cheeks. "He....he had to go to Pegasus's......that's were he was, Pegasus's island......" Everyone's eyes widened. Joey even muttered a few curses. Yugi tried to calm Mokuba down. "Mokuba, then we should do something....call the police or something so someone can...."  
  
"No...we can't......" "What?" "Yugi........Seto's been worried....ever since Pegasus got me after he left, he doesn't want me to be alone, ever......especially since he fired all of those board members last week when we all got out of that game.......and whenever he does leave me alone, he tells me that I should always make it seem like there's someone else at home, like a baby- sitter...but he never does, because he won't trust anybody but me anymore...." Mokuba's eyes pleaded with Yugi's. "...so if we told anybody......it might slip out, and then everyone would know. And I just don't want Seto to have to keep worrying over me.......he almost got lost in the Shadow Realm once...I can't let anything like that happen to him again!!!! I can't!!!!!............Yugi, I'm only doing what Seto would want me to do......"  
  
Yugi nodded. "That's why you didn't come get us in the first place, right? Because he wouldn't want you to?"  
  
Mokuba nodded glumly. "Yeah.......he hasn't gotten over me asking you guys for help........I don't really know why, but he just doesn't trust any of you, either......" Yugi nodded. The fact that Kaiba didn't like him wasn't exactly news. Tristan butted in "So what're we gonna do? Did Mai ask Pegasus about Kaiba at all?"  
  
Mokuba shook his head. "That's the really weird thing. Mai says that when they got there, there was no one on the island. They were looking for Pegasus when Seto heard something and went off by himself for a minute.......and he never came back." "Weird......"  
  
Ryou thought this over in his head for a little while. "Well, the ideal thing to do would be to go to Pegasus's island ourselves, but I don't think that's possible. There's an entire ocean separating us all. So we're going to have to think of something else......." Yugi murmured slowly: "Not necessarily......."  
  
Ryou cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Yugi?" "Ryou, your dad's a pilot, right?"  
  
"Yes, that's how come he's always going to foreign countries. Why do you ask, Yugi?"  
  
"He keeps a helicopter right?"  
  
"Yes......."  
  
Ryou thought he understood where Yugi is going with this. "Yugi, there is no way on earth that my dad would ever take us that far, especially under these circumstances. Besides, he and my mom are staying in Verona for the next week." "Actually, that makes this even easier......Ryou, do you think that you know enough about flying to, maybe, fly that helicopter?"  
  
"Well, I suppose I c-....Wait just ONE MINUTE!!!!!! You can't honestly expect me to...you can't just...NO!"  
  
Everyone else began to exchange glances with each other. "NO!!!! I am NOT flying you there!!!!! Do you realize how dangerous that is?????? Do you know how much trouble we'd get in?????? Do you know how hard it is to fly one of those things????????"  
  
Mokuba looked up at Ryou. "Please, Ryou.......could you just do it for my brother? Please, he's my best friend in the whole world........"  
  
Ryou cursed himself for being a sucker for crying kids. "Oh, fine, I'll do it.....But we'd better make sure we don't get into trouble....." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seto Kaiba groggily opened one eye and peered around him. Darkness. Nothing but darkness enveloped him...... Where am I?........ He tried to move, to get up so that he could get a good look at where he was..... And realized that he was covered from head to toe with stuff. He tried to move some of it when pain shot down his arm. Just what I need now....a broken arm....... He finally succeeded in pulling himself free. He looked up, and could see nothing in the darkness......When his eyes adjusted he saw that the ceiling was at least 20 feet above his head. He looked around. Where was Pegasus? When he finally unearthed him, he saw blood trickling from his head. HE immediately checked for a pulse..... He's alive.....but he's definitely knocked out pretty badly. Kaiba looked around, bewildered. So now what do I do? 


	4. Curiousity Kills the Cat

CK: Okaaaaaaaaay....just realized that I'm making a fic about Pegasus, and then I put him in a coma without a little bit of an explanation for the readers. Okay, first of all, YES, this is a ficcie about Pegasus, so he IS the focus of all this. He's only down for the count in last chapter and this chapter. Technically, this doesn't mean the coma ends, but....well, you'll all understand what I mean in the next chapter, OK? Just trust me people. AND KEEP REVIEWING!!!!!! Which reminds me: Mokuba, SweetCandie sends you a hug and two kisses.  
  
Mokuba: ^ ^  
  
CK: Also, some goodness: once I finish this chapter, all the GOOD stuff happens. Once I finish this chapter, I can stop ESTABLISHING the plot and actually get TO the plot. But I'm yapping too much. ONWARD!!!!!!!!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 4: Curiosity Kills the Cat  
  
Kaiba glanced around the darkness, uncertainty showing in his eyes. There was some light coming from the floorboards above his head, but Kaiba could tell that it was too far above his head for him to attempt to climb back up again......he didn't even know where the walls were at this point. He felt around blindly with his good arm until he felt something similar to a wall.......wait. If he had just fallen under Pegasus's dungeons, wouldn't the walls be craggy and hard, like a cave? Instead, what he felt was smooth and metallic, and it seemed to be bulging out a little.  
Kaiba felt along more of it...it wasn't a wall it was....a pipe?!! It must be a water pipe leading to the castle...... Which means.....? Kaiba thought to himself. If the water pipe led to the castle, then there must be a way to get inside from there......The wheels in Kaiba's mind started churning slowly..... Even if the pipe doesn't have an entrance big enough for me or Pegasus, it'll still be by the castle....maybe close enough for someone to hear someone's SOS signal...... Kaiba took one last glance at the slim beam of light coming from the ceiling.... If Mai hasn't found us here now, she's not going to find us here later....... Kaiba proceeded to attempt to make a sling out of his trench-coat. It took him what seemed an eternity, but eventually, he managed a simply done sling. Kaiba proceeded to half-drag, half-carry Pegasus along with him.... No matter how much I may hate him, I can't leave him down here like this. As much as I may want to, I'm not some sniveling brat who takes the easy way out when it comes to revenge............ Kaiba leaned against the water-pipe to make sure he didn't lose his way......the tunnel was still too dark to see very well in...... Kaiba began his tiresome hike...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When Yugi and company came near to Duelist Kingdom, it was almost midnight. Almost everyone was tired, except for Yugi and Bakura.........  
Bakura noticed out of the corner of his eye that Yugi was staring out the window, gazing intently at the moon. He must be thinking rather hard...then again, so am I....good thing my hikari's giving me instructions on how to fly this thing......  
Bakura was thinking intently...he was puzzled by something. When he heard his hikari speak Pegasus's name, a memory surfaced...one that still puzzled him......  
It had been the day of the Duelist Kingdom championship.....and Yugi had just won the duel. The baka hikari had been asleep, but when he awakened he heard the news.......so of course, Bakura had gone to win the Millennium Eye......  
It was strange. Bakura had entered the room only seconds after Pegasus himself.....but something had prevented him from interfering immediately......  
The Ring had always been able to sense the Millennium Eye...even when the Millennium Puzzle was sitting in front of it, the Eye was all it pointed towards.......because the Eye had a shadow about it, an aura that was irresistible to an object like the Ring, the always power-hungry Ring.......  
When Bakura had seen Pegasus that last time, the aura was gone....instead, a strange feeling of emptiness was there......hollowness.....strange for one with such magical abilities as Pegasus......which was what he had supposed the aura was, it had to be magic, as the Ring only sensed it when a Millennium Item was near........No, that wasn't it either, without magic Pegasus couldn't have freed those souls......Well, whatever it was, its absence had weakened Pegasus, causing him to lose his item......forever........ With a grin, Bakura fumbled for its weighty presence in his left pocket.....  
Yugi stared into the night, thinking to himself about the situation at hand.....In his eyes, he saw Yami sitting beside him, watching him closely...but of course, no one else could see him..........  
//Yugi, what are you thinking so intently about?....You've been quiet this whole time, but I know you're not tired....// //I'm just confused, that's all......// //About what? // //Kaiba and Pegasus......it seems like it's so obvious that Pegasus would be up to something again, but......but I don't think that's even possible.// //Why?// //I don't know....it's just a gut feeling// //Yugi, people don't change that quickly. You can watch a person for years on end, and they never change. They keep all their flaws with them, all of their talents, all of the good things about them. That's just how things are. // //If you say so...// Yugi took a long look at Yami. //Are you alright? You look worried....// Yami sighed. //I sense something...I don't like this Yugi, I think something bad's going to happen...// //What? You mean Pegasus? // //No, I don't sense any evil....just danger....// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Everyone arrived at the island a few minutes later.....when they got to the castle, they found Mai, sleeping on the tall stairway that led to the entrance. Mokuba shook her awake. "Mai! Mai! It's me, Mokuba!!!!!' Mai stirred. "Wha? Oh, you guys are here....." (A/N: Oops, I forgot to mention a couple of things.....Mokuba called Mai before, so she knew they were coming a.k.a. why she was waiting for them in front of the castle. Also, the reason that everyone is not gonna be grounded for life by their parents for leaving later is, well, everyone either said that they were gonna sleep over at somebody else's house for a couple of days, or, in Roy's case, his parents are in Italy. Also, please just pretend that Ryou, Mokuba, and Mai know about Pegasus wanting to bring Cecilia back, because it saves me a lot of explaining. But don't pretend that Kaiba knows....you'll find out why in the next chapter.....) Mai stood up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Good...you're here. Now maybe somebody can help me figure out what's going on around here." Yugi shook his head. "We all wish we knew the answer to that one." "Well, whatever.....listen, it's late, so why don't we go find those guest rooms of Pegasus's and get some sleep....?" Everyone but Yugi nodded in agreement and immediately went inside, exhausted from the long flight...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Yugi lay awake, yet again thinking to himself......he just couldn't get to sleep, no matter how hard he tried.  
Yami watched his hikari carefully, though the older spirit showed more signs of fatigue. //Yugi, you have to get some sleep. It's almost one in the morning........// //Not really....look, the sun's rising.// //It's just the time difference, Yugi. You shouldn't overwork yourself.// Yugi sighed. //I just feel restless. I wanna make sure Kaiba's okay as soon as I can...// Yami smiled a little at his other self. //You care too much for others sometimes...alright, if it makes you feel any better, we'll look around for an hour// //Okay....//  
When Yugi left his room, he was surprised to find Ryou and Tea up, both wandering the halls.  
  
(A/N: Nothing along the lines of romance, people.....just needed to let you know.......)  
  
"Ryou? Tea? What're you guys doing here?" Tea turned to him and said, sleepily: "We couldn't get any sleep......flying in a helicopter must work like caffeine or something...." Ryou nodded, then yawned. "So what're you doing up, Yugi?"  
  
"I'm just restless, that's all. I want to find out where Kaiba and Pegasus are as soon as possible."  
  
Tea nodded agreeably. "I talked with Mai a little before she went to bed. She said something about Kaiba going to the dungeons before he disappeared..." "Well, then let's check there......" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
It was only a few minutes later, the trio was peering into the gaping hole in Pegasus's dungeon laboratory. (Well, ONE of the laboratories, anyway.)  
Ryou turned to Yugi and Tea "Do you think that maybe Kaiba's down there." Tea blinked. "I dunno......Mai said something about this hole....she said that she tried calling Kaiba's name down there a couple of times, but she never got a response...."  
  
"Well, does anybody have some sort of a flashlight?"  
  
Ryou reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a keychain, containing one small, black flashlight. "Here you go, Yugi..." "Thanks, Ryou." Yugi flicked it on, and shined the light towards the looming darkness..... But the hole was so deep that the flashlight barely showed the trio anything...... Yugi moved the light back and forth, scanning the array of things that he saw down there. "I don't see anyone...."  
  
"Well, let's just yell out for him a few times, just in case..."  
  
"Okay, Ryou..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Kaiba was trudging along when he stopped for a second. He blinked and turned around. He propped Pegasus up against the water pipe, then tried to listen.... Is someone calling my name?..... Kaiba listened for one more minute, then shook his head. I'm becoming delusional....... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Yugi shook his head. "No good.....I guess maybe he's not down there......"  
  
Tea shrugged. "It's a possibility. But why is there a humongous hole in the floor?"  
  
"Well, look at the rest of the room, it's a pigsty. Pegasus hasn't been keeping anything else straightened up, so the floorboards must have rotted through and he hasn't fixed it up yet."  
  
"I guess so.......well, we still haven't checked the rest of the dungeons, so let's get started..."  
  
"Right." "Right."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The three teens searched the dungeons for about ten more minutes before they found the second laboratory. This one was also filled with tons of machines, but someone had mad sure that this one was a lot neater than the other laboratory.  
The room had several desks, each with small piles of papers on top. In the center stood all the machines, but only two of them stood out prominently. Each was a glass chamber. On the left stood one, empty, with several knobs, buttons, and switches inside. On the right stood the other, with closed doors. The glass on this one was frosted over, so no one could see what was inside.  
Yugi scanned the room and shook his head. "Nope, Kaiba definitely couldn't be in here."  
  
He looked to where his companions were just standing. Then he noticed that both of them were fumbling around with the machines. "You GUYS???? What're you doing???"  
  
Ryou shrugged. "Just being thorough. Might as well find out what these machines are for, while we're here." "Ryou, come on, we're here to find Kaiba."  
  
Ryou shrugged and walked back to Yugi. Tea, however, ignored them. She walked inside the chamber on the left and began to fumble with the knobs. "Hey, do either of you guys know what 'HC' or 'CM' means? It's labeled next to some of the knobs......" "Tea, I really don't think you should be fooling around with that...."  
  
"Oh come on, Yugi, what's the harm? Pegasus runs a game company, this is probably some sort of virtual reality machine......"  
  
"Still...."  
  
"Oh come on, Yugi..."  
  
She looked at two of the knobs and twisted them all the way to the right. Little bar meters above the knobs began to glow red. Yugi sensed Yami shifting in his soul room.... //Yugi, let me out, I don't like this....It's that aura from befo-...// Before Yami could finish his thought, Tea had pulled on one of the switches, and the glass chamber had shut its doors, trapping her inside. Tea looked bewildered. "Wha....?" Soon, a small vent from the top of the inside of the chamber began to let in a flowing stream of smoke......Tea began coughing hard. Yami took over, then ran to the chamber and attempted to open the glass doors.....Soon, the smoke was clouding up the whole chamber, blocking any view of Tea.....but Yami and Ryou could hear her screaming inside.......  
Yami was still prying at the glass when the doors slid open by themselves, and Tea fell out, stiff and pale. Yami caught her and immediately felt her wrist for any signs of a heartbeat....telling him what he had known the moment that the chamber had opened.... "She's dead........."  
For what seemed almost forever, Yami held Tea's limp corpse, weeping, unable to accept something that had happened so quickly, yet so tragically. Ryou knelt next to him, trying to think of something to say, but only being able to stare blankly at Yami's tear-stained face.....  
Ryou was in a daze, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened. He felt unable to do anything but watch and listen to the world, not knowing what to do or say. His senses were acute, but his mind was so numb that he couldn't completely understand what he was sensing. Which may explain why it was him and not Yami that dimly heard the sound of clanging metal and retreating footsteps........ 


	5. Surprise Entrances

CK: Hello, people!!!! I finished wrote another chappie for you all, YAY!!!! And I'm sorry to say, that I'm such an evil little person. Not only do I kill off Tea, but in this chapter, something happens. Something BIG happens.....and then after it happens, I spend the rest of the chapter focusing on Kaiba! I'm sorry!!!! But I promise, the stuff with Kaiba is REEEEALLY good, (Or so my friends told me) and I think everyone out there will like it..... Here's a hint about what's gonna happen: It's the reason I named this story 'Impossible Reality'.... And here's a shout-out to everybody who's reviewed: THANK YOU!!!!! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!!!!!! Okkei, I'm talking waaaaaay too much. Methinks it is time for me to get to the actual story-line........  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh.....unless I am the owner's illegitimate daughter and my parents have been lying to me about my past this whole time.....Hmmm..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 5-Surprise Entrances  
  
(Okay, when we left off, Tea had died, and while Yugi and Ryou were grieving, Ryou had heard the faint noises of footsteps....)  
  
Swirling....swirling wisps of smoke, white and smelling of death........standing, watching as doors shut behind you......and consciousness slowly faded away in a few seconds, each tick of the clock changing your life forever.....no not changing,.....ending.  
Yugi Moto was going to be ill.....he was vaguely aware of Yami moving their legs somewhere, but that was it.......He eventually had the strength to peer out of his soul room to see that Yami was making them run, some five feet behind Ryou.....  
//Yami, what's going on.....?// //Ryou heard someone running out of the lab after Tea went into the machine........he didn't get a good look at the person, though........// //Is it Pegasus....?// //I don't know........//  
Yami and Ryou could tell that they were not far behind whomever they were chasing, but every time they thought that they would at least catch a glimpse of who they were chasing, but every time, the person would change their direction, or climb or descend a staircase......by this point they had been running a frantic chase throughout the castle.......The path that this person took made no sense, because it twisted and turned and ran in a million different directions.... Yami voiced it first: //Like they're looking for something....//  
When Yami and Ryou had first given chase, their minds were too pre- occupied to think to yell out at whomever they were chasing....and by now, they couldn't even if they had wanted to, because their throats were dry from so much running. Because of this, they couldn't tell whether this person was running from them......or just plain running.  
Eventually, the person must have started to run out of energy....because the quick footsteps that Ryou and Yami had been following began to lose speed....but even when the person they were chasing was a mere few feet ahead of them, they could not see who it was, because they wore a cloak of some kind.....or, as they found out later, a shroud.  
The person ahead of them finally stopped running and bent over, attempting to catch their breath......Ryou ran up to them and clapped his hand onto their shoulder. "Excuse m-...."  
The person jumped at the sound of Ryou's voice, then swiftly turned around. Whatever Ryou had planned to say, it immediately left his mind when he saw whom he was speaking to. If either him or Yami had had weaker hearts, they might have fainted.  
Cecilia Pegasus pushed back the hood of her funeral shroud to reveal her face. Her eyes shone bright with unshed tears. Her voice wavered, as though she were bordering onto hysterics. "Please.......could either of you tell me where my husband is......?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Seto Kaiba couldn't take this anymore.....he had been walking for what seemed forever, and he felt like he was starving to death. Plus, there was the added burden of towing Pegasus along.......but most of all, Kaiba was tired.  
About ten minutes ago, he had eventually decided to stop trudging along so that he could take a break......he had propped Pegasus against the water pipe, while he himself had decided to lean against the cave wall opposite Pegasus.  
He was drifting........drifting slowly off to sleep, when he started to see a colorful vision take place in front of his shut eyes......  
The colors that were dancing under his eyelids soon began to change and take shape.....it was forming a place....somewhere Kaiba could've sworn he'd been before, even though he couldn't say when........  
The room looked something like an office...in fact it probably was, but there seemed to be no one else there. Kaiba looked around. In the front was a very large computer, looking very high tech. To the sides were bulletin boards, each one filled with Post-its and memos....one of them held a very large photograph of Mokuba that took up maybe a quarter of the board's space. Holding the computer up was a desk, filled with masses of paper......  
Kaiba looked over some of the notes......these were identical to the ones he had written to himself before he had left for Pegasus's!!! But this wasn't his office.....his was painted with light colors and had lots of windows....this one was dark and very closed in....it made you kind of claustrophobic.........  
"Are you surprised, Seto Kaiba, to see what is actually your own mind.....?" Kaiba jumped about five feet in the air and spun around quickly.  
A figure appeared from the dark corner of Kaiba's mind and smirked a little at him. "I see that you must be." The man was a strange sight to Seto Kaiba. His skin was tanned deeply and he wore a long robe. His head was covered by a large turban, and hoop earrings dangled from his ears. Around his neck, he wore what looked like a rather large ankh.  
"Who are you?????? Where am I??????" "Calm yourself, Seto Kaiba. I am not here to cause any trouble......"  
  
"Answer my questions!!!!!! What're you doing here??????"  
  
"Very well. My name, right now, is useless to you, and therefore I will save that information for when you need it. As to where you are, you are where you almost always are: the inside of your own mind....."  
  
Kaiba glowered. "You're a lunatic!!!!! Where am I really???"  
  
This guy's off his rocker.....now, if I could just get out of this place, that'd be great...but where the fuck is a door??????  
The man with the turban started rubbing his temples. "First of all, Mr. Kaiba, I am not 'off my rocker', and second of all, there is no door to this room because you never leave your mind, so why would you need one?"  
  
Kaiba had, at this point, completely lost any idea he once had of what was going on. "WHAT????? How'd you...how...what...."  
  
If the man showed any signs of having a sense of humor, he might have laughed. "Mr. Kaiba, would you please settle down?"  
  
Kaiba attempted to do just that. Needless to say, it didn't work very well.  
"Now, if you would be so kind as to listen for perhaps more than five minutes, then I may be able to answer some of your questions......I am here for the reason that events will soon be happening.....they involve you and many others, but I am visiting you especially because I do not want you to disturb the flow of events with desire for revenge."  
  
If the guy thought that Kaiba would understand anything he just said, he was seriously wrong. He sighed.... "I am here to educate you Kaiba......Many things are taking place, and will be taking place, and you will become involved...and I want to ensure that you are educated on your rival....."  
  
His eyes gleamed. "Otherwise.....there will be more tragedy than will occur otherwise....Do you care to see the past, Mr. Kaiba?"  
  
Kaiba was inwardly starting to panic.....this man wasn't making any sense.....he needed to get out of here..... The man raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the scenery surrounding Kaiba began to melt away, and the man vanished along with it...........  
Kaiba blinked his eyes and looked around him. Where was he????????  
  
Instead of inside an office, Kaiba was outdoors in what appeared to be a forest.....Snow covered everything, including a frozen river that ran in the middle of all the scenery......running along the river was a footpath, somewhat narrow. The path vanished in several parts underneath the snow that covered the river's shore.  
Kaiba was still attempting to understand what was going on when he heard laughter coming from within the forest. Kaiba spun around to look at whom it was coming from....On the footpath, he saw two figures.....  
PEGASUS??????????  
  
Kaiba watched as the familiar silver-haired man walked down the footpath with a woman, both holding hands.....They didn't look like they could have been more than twenty years old....and Kaiba thought he recognized the girl. But from where?  
  
The couple were both chatting happily, and both of them couldn't tear their eyes off of the other. They gave the impression of two people that couldn't be happier anywhere on earth than with each other at that moment......  
Kaiba ran up to Pegasus, trying desperately still to figure out what was going on. Again. Jeez, this author doesn't tell him ANYTHING, come to think of it.......  
Kaiba was about to try and talk to Pegasus, but a single glimpse when he walked up to him showed that that would be pointless. Pegasus didn't even glance at Kaiba, and a second later, he walked right through him............literally.  
At this point, Kaiba gave up. If he was supposed to 'experience the past', then let's just get it over with. Whoever the man with the turban was, he sure didn't make any sense to Kaiba.  
This is so pointless..... Pegasus walked with the young woman along the path. They were coming to a fifteen-foot long stretch where the snow covered the path from view. They were both chatting about something.....but at this point, it wasn't very important to Kaiba.......  
The girl was laughing....She was having the time of her life, and Pegasus couldn't help but watch her, drinking it all in. The beauty of the forest surrounded him, but he didn't seem to notice it at all.........  
What happened next came as quickly as a bolt of lightening in a storm. In fact, it came so fast, that Kaiba had blinked and missed it. One second, there was a happy couple walking on what they thought was the path alongside the river. The next, only Pegasus was there, and instead of the girl there was a gaping hole at the edge of what must have been a piece of the river.  
Pegasus didn't even waste a second. He immediately dived in after the girl......... Kaiba could barely make out Pegasus's figure grabbing the girl underneath the ice.....but how would they make it out....the river was carrying them downstream.......they were trapped.....  
All of a sudden a fist broke through the ice and grabbed onto the surface.......Pegasus began to use the rest of his arm to smash through the ice, using inhuman strength that he got only from desperation.......desperation because the girl he loved was in great risk, and he needed to help her.........When Pegasus had created a large enough hole, he used this new-found strength to pull himself and the girl through the ice to the surface.  
Kaiba watched this numbly.....and when the background began to melt away again, he continued to do just that......  
When the world had begun to take shape again, Kaiba saw that he was in a hospital. It looked like he was standing in a waiting room, with many people sitting around looking very grim......  
Pegasus sat in one of the chairs there. His arm was bandaged up, and he had a smaller bandage on his head. He looked very pale...  
A doctor walked over to Pegasus and gestured for him to follow him to his office. Pegasus walked slowly behind him, dread showing clearly on his face. Kaiba followed them both, his curiousity getting the best of him.  
The doctor sat down behind his desk and Pegasus sat across from him in another chair. When they first began to speak, they spoke English....yet Kaiba could somehow understand every word.  
"Mr. Pegasus, I've done some tests on your wife....I'm afraid that the news I have for you isn't good....isn't good at all...."  
  
Pegasus seemed reluctant, yet impatient at the same time. "......What is it?"  
  
"Your wife is recovering from the hypothermia very well......much better than I would have normally accepted. I credit that to your speedy rescue back at the river."  
  
Pegasus relaxed a little, until he noticed that the doctor refused to look him in the eyes. "However........"  
  
The doctor sighed. "Mr. Pegasus, did your wife seem sick at all this morning?"  
  
"She...she had a little bit of a cough, but that was really it......."  
  
"I see.....the thing is, Mr. Pegasus, that 'cough' that she had wasn't actually a cough...it was a very early stage of pneumonia........and under normal circumstances, very easy to cure..... However, her fall under the ice has considerably weakened her....Mr. Pegasus, your wife isn't going to live very long......."  
  
"W-what......?"  
  
Kaiba had never seen Pegasus look so powerless......so pitiful...... Pegasus seemed like he was going to border on hysterical panic at any moment.... "I-isn't there ANYTHING that you can do?????????" "I'm sorry Mr. Pegasus, but she contracted the viral form of the disease, so we have no cure....I'm very sorry. I know this must be hard to accept, especially on your honeymoon....." Pegasus was shaking..........he couldn't accept this, he couldn't handle any of this............ He couldn't....... "Mr. Pegasus, if you want to make say goodbye to your wife, I suggest that you go visit her now. When you leave, we're going to take her off of life support."  
  
Pegasus walked out of the room, as though in a trance.......as though he were stumbling through a dream, clinging to the belief that at any moment, he would wake up and he wouldn't have to face this horror..........  
The scenery melted away again.......................this time, to a churchyard. Rain was sprinkling down everywhere, as though tears being shed had swelled into the clouds. There was a burial going on........Kaiba watched as the priest there finished speaking and a large crowd of people began to move away from a single tomb. It was strange......despite the large amounts of people, very few seemed to actually mourn....most looked like they came to show off the latest fashions, styled in appropriate black.........only five people were crying, and prominent among them was Pegasus.  
Another of the weepers, whom Kaiba assumed immediately was the girl's mom, since they looked very similar, walked over to Pegasus. Pegasus was kneeling on the ground in front of the grave, weeping silently. The woman laid her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "Max......you shouldn't stay out here, you know......."  
  
Pegasus turned his head towards her, but said nothing. "You can't change anything by making yourself so unhappy, Max. You did what you could to save her.......that's all any one can ask."  
  
"Yes......but it still wasn't enough." "Max........."  
  
"Tell the others to go to the reception without me. I'm going to stay here for awhile..."  
  
The woman shook her head and sighed as Pegasus turned back to the tomb. She walked off and joined three others in a limousine. Kaiba listened to what they were saying, even though they were many feet away. At this point, very little seemed impossible. "Maximillian's staying at the grave for awhile. He's still too upset....."  
  
"Well, leave him alone, Goldy, there's nothing you can do for him right now."  
  
"Alright....I suppose."  
  
"You know, it's funny....I heard something from Estella..."  
  
"Oh no, you've been listening to her again? Honestly, you people listen to her and believe her as though she were the wise man on the mountain..."  
  
"Oh, shut up Goldy."  
  
"Oh, I heard that from Estella too! It makes you wonder..."  
  
"Indeed...."  
  
"Oh no, what has she been saying this time?" "Oh nothing much....she just thinks it's interesting how poor old Cecilia seemed to 'accidentally' slip into a river out in the middle of nowhere...."  
  
"Don't you dare..."  
  
"With only one person being there, claiming it was an accident and making himself seem like a hero...."  
  
"Sarah!!!!!!! That's horrible!!! Max would never do a thing like that!!! You ought to know how much he cares about her!!!!!!"  
  
"Did Estella really say that, Sarah?"  
  
"HANNAH!!!!"  
  
"Oh, yes she did. I have to agree with her, it seems so obvious to anyone with half a brain....."  
  
The voices slowly faded from Kaiba's ears. He watched numbly for what must have been hours in reality, but passed like minutes to him. Pegasus weeping, whispering to the wife he lost, then changing his tome quickly to convince himself that none of this was real. He went on this way for hours, until he had to leave.....the gravediggers needed to fill in the hole in the ground.....  
The last thing Kaiba heard Pegasus tell himself was this. "My fault....this is all my fault....."  
  
For the last time, Kaiba watched as the whole world shifted and he returned, once again, to the crowded office. Once again, the man with the turban stood before him. "Welcome back, Seto Kaiba."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
CK: Okay people!! You can put away the tissues now!!! Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up by next week. BTW, I have a question to all you readers. You see, one of the chapters that I have coming up later is a song-fic, and I also use some poems in the story later. According to my friend Daine, you're not supposed print the lyrics the exact same way they were written, you have to change them a little, or you're breaking the rules. I just thought you needed to mention it in your disclaimer. Does anyone have the answers??? Please respond!!! And, as usual, READ AND REVIEW!!!! Ja ne! 


	6. Confusion

CK: He-ey, I'm ba-aaack!!!! To all the very nice people out there who are sending me the very nice reviews: THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hehe......I'm just suffering an overdose on ice tea again, don't worry. This is completely normal....for me, anyway. Okay.....better get to the story-line before I scare everyone away....hope I know what I'm doing.....BTW, this chapter is extremely talky, so I'm sorry about that.....there's just some stuff I feel I need to have someone say.......  
  
Oh yeah, I don't own Yugioh. If I did, then people would shut up about Pegasus being a cheater already......HE'S NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 6: Confusion (Sub-title: What the FUCK is going on?!!!???????)  
  
Kaiba waited about point-five seconds so the shock could register. He still was confused about....well, everything going on at this point. The man in the turban seemed to understand this and remained silent until Kaiba began to talk. "So.....was that....really Pegasus? In all of that stuff?" "Yes......that was Pegasus about ten years ago. Back when he was a much happier man....."  
  
The man with the turban seemed to talking to Kaiba, but at the same time, talking to himself......re-assuring himself with the facts, as though in preparation.... "Back then, Pegasus was a newly-wed man. His whole life had been rather unstable......except for when he was with the girl that you saw, Cecilia. She was the one thing in life that made him happy, while all the rest if his life was in complete disarray. He loved her from when he was a small child........"  
  
"Is that why Pegasus is like that now? He just lost it when his wife died?"  
  
"That explains it somewhat, but not completely.........you see, Pegasus regarded the two of them as two parts of the same whole, even before they were married....even before he knew that she returned his affections. So when she died, yes, Pegasus did somewhat 'lose it', as you put it..... But he also felt emptiness......a longing to feel whole again......for almost all of his life, the two of them had been together, first as playmates, then as friends, then as lovers, then as spouses. He could not comprehend a life without her........he can't even remember a life without her...and even now, he is sure that she feels the same way...even in death...." He gazed coldly towards Kaiba. "You see, Pegasus is a dangerous man when you observe him....and I do not mean in the sense of power....." "Then what do you mean....?"  
  
"Love is a very powerful force.......when one is fighting for a person they hold dear, they will always fight harder than if they fought only for themselves..........and when you combine that power with a mind unbalanced by grief....."  
  
The man in the turban shook his head slightly, as though trying to remove the past......and failing miserably....... "I am perhaps to blame for what happened later.......Pegasus went on a journey......he felt that it was absolutely necessary to have his wife brought to life again, by whatever means he could find.......after a few stops, he made his way to Egypt, because of their belief in an afterlife not unlike living on earth....he thought that ancient magic would help him in his quest."  
  
Kaiba was having trouble taking this in....magic? Bringing people back to life? Was this insane.....or, even scarier, was he telling him the truth?  
The man looked very weary as he continued, knowing full well his part in the tale that he told. "That was where I encountered him, in Egypt. I even warned him......I warned him that this journey would only lead him to more heartache......but he was stubborn and followed me to a lair of mine........When we reached the bottom, I revealed that I knew he was there.....and then I gave him a gift. I though it would be a blessing, magic that perhaps could keep his focus off of his current goal.....I was the one who gave him his eye, the Millennium Eye....How wrong I was......"  
  
"I still don't understand......"  
  
"The Millennium Eye is a very powerful piece of magic.....with it, you can see into the minds of anyone you face and read their every thoughts......I thought perhaps that it was for the best....the magic in the Eye kept calling out for me to give it to him, I knew that much from the very second I laid eyes on Mr. Pegasus........ But even I couldn't predict what Pegasus would do with such power.......  
There are seven Millennium Items in the world, Seto Kaiba. I own two myself..... Your enemy, Yugi Moto, has one.....the Millennium Puzzle. And in each of these items comes two things.....a power, and an aura. The auras can change everything about a person when they gain their item....and they come in two forms. They can come in the shape of a spirit.....or in the shape of a longing.......  
One has a longing for justice......another, a longing for wisdom......another, a longing for peace.....and yet another, a longing for bloodshed. But the Millennium Eye had perhaps the most dangerous....the longing for power..........  
It sent him horrible delusions, fantastic visions which made even him think that he had lost his mind........because the Eye knew that Pegasus was the perfect vessel......he would do almost anything as long as he believed that he was doing it for his wife......it even sent him a vision to hammer a nail into the coffin. It sent him the vision of Cecilia descending from the heavens to greet him........"  
  
The man seemed very grim. He looked tired....very tired, like he just wished he could make all of the things in the past just go away so that he wouldn't feel such shame for his part in all of this........  
"I was there when that happened......only moments after I had given him the Eye. Even then I regretted it......"  
The man slammed his fist onto one of Kaiba's desks. "I should never have given him that power!!!!! You can't trust such immense magic like that to a man in such a situation....... After that I did everything I thought I could do to stop him.....everything.....I helped introduce him to the game of Duel Monsters, in the hopes of distracting him from his quest, by filling the hole in his life with something else.......I tried to be a friend to him, in hopes that maybe friendship would help ease his loneliness....Ra, I even tried to introduce him to a woman once..........and look at how miserably those attempts turned out......in fact, I'm not unsure that they didn't feed the flames......."  
  
Kaiba listened quietly....he got the feeling that the man wasn't really speaking to him.....he was more or less speaking to himself, and Kaiba had been forgotten in the meantime........  
"The Eye knew...........the Eye knew Pegasus was weak........that longing for power grew stronger and stronger with every evil it made Pegasus do......in fact, it grew stronger than I ever thought it could......."  
  
The man turned to Kaiba, his eyes wide with pain and regret............... "That's the real danger of the Millennium Items.......if you let the aura of the longing take too much control........a new spirit will form, with every characteristics of the longing......that's what almost happened to Pegasus.....if he had won the duel against Yugi..........I shudder to think what would have happened.......a version of him could take his place.............with no moral qualms whatsoever........ I am grateful to Yugi for that much.......when Pegasus lost, the goodness in Yugi managed to banish the evil in Pegasus.....much like he did with you, Kaiba......"  
  
Kaiba spoke up for the first time in awhile. "You....you've got to be exaggerating......a whole new spirit?"  
  
"I am not joking......I am serious, Seto Kaiba. It has happened before, very recently in fact......the longing for blood became a spirit...in the host of a boy your age, in fact......"  
  
Kaiba was too bewildered to say anything. The man sighed. "But I am wasting too much of your time....." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Cecilia Pegasus was trying desperately not to go into hysterics. She just had to keep telling herself that Max hadn't done something foolish.....he was going to be just fine when she found him.......wherever he was............  
Still, it was getting difficult to fight the rising sense of panic............ She turned to Yugi. "Have either of you seen him? Have either of you seen my husband?????????"  
  
The two of them were incapable, at this point, of doing anything more than staring at her blankly and wondering when someone was going to shake them awake and ask why they were acting so weird in their sleep. And continue wondering why the person shaking them awake didn't just hurry up already and get there.  
Cecilia was beginning to break down. A tear accidentally slipped down her face. "Please.......I'm worried about my husband.......have either of you seen him?" Finally Yugi spoke up. "No.......we haven't seen Pegasus......we've been looking for him, but we haven't seen him........."  
  
Cecilia, grateful at least for a response, nodded solemnly. She needed to find him.......and fast. Who knows what Max had done while she hadn't been watching him...........  
She started to set off to go look for him when Yugi stopped her, curiosity beginning to get the best of him. "Listen.......there's more people on the island than just the two of us.....maybe we can help you find Pegasus......."  
  
Cecilia smiled a little, and nodded........she was vaguely aware that she was accepting help from her one of her husband's worst enemies......but her mind was too numb from shock and she was just too worried that Maximillian was hurt.......or worse.......... "Alright....I'll be looking for him in the laboratories.......just please, hurry......I need to find him......" Cecilia went off on her own.  
Ryou, who hadn't said anything yet, turned to Yugi. "Am I dreaming or......"  
  
"You're not dreaming.......not unless we both are.......we have to go get the others, some really strange things are going on around here.............." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The man had finished ranting and turned back to Kaiba. "I have kept you here too long.....you should return to your real world now........"  
  
"Wait....."  
  
Kaiba interrupted. "What was the point of all this? The visions......why did you show me them.....? And who are you??????"  
  
The man solemnly replied. "My name is Shadi. As to why you are here......... Tragedy is going to strike soon......and I only wish that, as is the duty of a friend, no more pain is caused than is necessary.........I just wish that this all be over with quickly......"  
  
"So what do I have to do with any of this? And what tragedy? What's going to happen????"  
  
Shadi shook his head. "I will not reveal the future's secrets to you. And you are here because of your anger...and your tendencies to focus greatly on revenge....."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"There are only three things you will never forgive a person for, Seto Kaiba......one is hurting you in some way.....another is hurting your brother Mokuba in some way....and last....."  
  
Shadi said this last piece with a slight ironic grin on his face. "....is someone who has hurt you or Mokuba attempting to redeem themselves......"  
  
"What?" "As I have said before, I am here to minimize the pain and suffering that will occur.......and you, Seto Kaiba, have much anger in you........if I had not shown you these things, then you would have followed your desire for revenge blindly, without any thought.........causing much anguish to another" Kaiba would have responded to that, but the next thing he knew, Shadi snapped his fingers and Kaiba was instantly sitting up in the tunnels, Pegasus propped against the water pipe, everything seeming to be as if nothing had happened..... But not everything was the same.......  
In the far distance of the pitch black tunnel, Kaiba could see something........... A very thin sliver...... Of light.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CK: Okay, I am SO sorry that this chapter was so bad..............it's just I needed Shadi to explain SOMEHOW what was going on with Pegasus, otherwise some stuff that happens later wouldn't make as much sense.....But I promise, folks, next chapter's a lot better. And could someone pleeeeeeeeeeeease answer my question from last chapter about the songfics? It'd help me out a lot.  
  
Anyway, read and review, and I'll try and post next Friday. Please note though: I might not be able to since baka finals start up this week......at the very worst, I'll post in 2 ½ weeks......well, actually, at the very worst, I die and you people never find out what happens.....but that's a little gloomy, isn't it? 


	7. The Returns

CK: Hey there everyone. It's me again, your crazy, fun-filled authoress. Sorry it took me so long to update, but, like I said last time, I had that evil little bunch of finals to take, and I reeeeeeeeeeally don't want to flunk my science final like I did my midterm. If it makes it up to anyone, I posted a songfic that I wrote for my friend's magazine (not anything like 'People' or that, it's a magazine she writes for our group of friends) and even though it's kinda crappy, since I really only worked on it for a day and a half, its still something for ye Pegsy lovers. It's called 'Paint It Black'. (To make it up to the Kaiba fans who read this, I'm gonna try and write a song-fic about him soon...) Anyway, I am babbling WAY too much, and you guys want a new chappie, so here it is, folks!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Yugioh. If I did, then for the love of humanity, Pegasus wouldn't have been kicked out of the friggin' storyline after Season 1!!!!!!! *realizes that everyone reading this is giving her weird looks* Hehe...heh.....moving on.........  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 7 The Returns  
  
Cecilia wandered aimlessly throughout the dungeons and their laboratories, seemingly looking for Pegasus....but she knew full well, somehow, that no matter where she thought to look in this castle, she wouldn't find him..... She had to keep fighting that rising sense of panic........ She had been watching Max all these years.....she'd seen the things he'd done, watched his grief, understood the pain he felt......He spent a decade trying to bring them together, not really understanding that she was right by him the whole time...... Why couldn't he see that.....? They had asked her to stop watching him about a week ago....she didn't really know why, but they said it would interfere when she went back to earth.....she would have to find some things out on her own..... She did what they asked........but she was worried. Max had been planning something. She knew that much. She just prayed that it wouldn't hurt anyone......the evil that had controlled Max was gone now, Yugi had unwittingly banished it away in their duel.......but she couldn't help wondering....... "Max, where are you..........?" Cecilia clasped a small locket that she wore around her throat.......it was a gift from when she was a small girl.....she hadn't really liked wearing it much. Not because she didn't like it, but because she always liked to keep it safe somewhere, so that it wouldn't get lost or damaged. She always kept something to show the people closest to her, and it was very precious to her.....that was why they had her wear it at the burial.........  
One side held a picture of her parents. The other, a picture of her sisters. In the middle, she kept a single rose-petal..... From when Max had proposed to her..... Cecilia smiled a little. She had loved Max from the day they had met, even though she was only a little girl then..... Her life had been a sort of chaos.....but he was always there for her to clear the storm. He always made her happy, and he had always treated her right....... They were almost never apart. All of their friends had known from the very beginning that they'd be together forever..... It had been the closest thing to Heaven on earth for her when they got married..... But she hadn't known what would happen...............  
Cecilia wasn't sure that her decision to ask Yugi for help was the best idea.... After all, his yami wasn't exactly the most forgiving person in the world...... And she'd seen him become violent towards those trying to hurt his hikari before. What would make him not do the same to Max.......?  
  
And then there was Bakura......... She knew all about the Millennium Eye, course. She knew everything that had been happening, except for the last week...... She knew what Bakura was like, and what he would do in order to gain power. If either Yami or Bakura laid a single finger on Max...............  
Cecilia shook her head violently. She was getting off-track. She was supposed to try and find Max.......... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
At this point, Yami and Ryou had already told everyone else in the castle. Despite some groggy protests, they all finally woke up to join in the manhunt.  
Yami sensed that Yugi was experiencing a lot of pain and confusion......and he really couldn't blame him. Lots of things were happening so fast....... He's withdrawing himself again.......like after that second duel with Kaiba.......... Yugi hadn't said a word in such a long time. Yami peered into his aibou's soul-room to investigate.....he was worried about him.  
Yugi was huddled in one corner, clinging to one of the small stuffed toys that littered the room. Normally, his room was a bright tint of blue or pink...........but today, the walls were deep tones of gray and black.  
Yami wished he could comfort him, but no words came to his mouth. Instead, he returned to the real world, hoping maybe there would be some answers there.......  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
(Note to the readers: We're gonna go through an abrupt change of pace. We now switch to a very strange little humor break......hey, one of this story's genre's is humor. I have to make this funny at SOME points.)  
Joey and Tristan were both wandering sleepily around the castle, pretending to search like everyone else. In reality, they were trying to cover the fact that they were sleep-walking.  
When they set out, they basically told everyone that they would be searching the second floor of the castle for any signs of our missing bishounen. Of course, the fact that the kitchen was on the exact same floor was merely a rather helpful coincidence.  
About fifteen minutes later, Joey was hard at work making absolutely sure that Pegasus and Kaiba had not gotten lost inside of the refrigerator. And if he had to get rid of everything inside of the fridge to do so, well, by golly, he was gonna do it.  
Tristan was, erm, 'relaxing his eyes' while sitting on a stool in the kitchen. As he nodded off to sleep he heard some faint clanging noises going on. Being in the tired stupor he was in, not much could really register in his mind. "Hey Joey, whaddya sayin'?"  
  
Joey looked up from 'clearing out' some fried chicken. "Gfrrm qzxthlgth?" "What?"  
  
"Ag dinnin sai ennethen." "Okay, if it's not you that I'm hearing, then what the fuck did I just hear?"  
  
"Ag groth nog gloo." Tristan shook his head. "That does it. I have officially lost it." He stood up to walk over to the sink to splash some cold water on his face. To Tristan, the clanging started to get louder as he walked closer and closer to the sink. BANG.....BANG....BANG....bangbangbang.....BANG......BANG......BANG....... Now, we all know Tristan's I.Q. isn't exactly up to par. But even he could recognize an S.O.S. signal. Tristan put his ear up to the wall to listen better. He could hear the faint, scrambled sound of a person's voice, but he couldn't tell whose...... "Hey, Joey, listen over here......" "Gzrthlhup?"  
  
"WILL YOU STOP EATING ALREADY?????????? Now get your ass over here and listen to the wall and tell me if you hear anything!!!!!!" "Wgai?"  
  
"SO I CAN STOP THINKING THAT I'M CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!" "........"  
Joey walked over to his creepily disturbing friend and put his ear up to the wall. Sure enough, he heard some strange mumbling noises going on......he almost pranked Tristan by telling him that he didn't hear a word and that Tristan should go get a room at Green Acres. But he realized that if he prolonged the chapter by doing this, the authoress would have been forced to find a large bat and BLUDGEON HIM TO DEATH. So, like a smart boy..... (A/N: Note: I said LIKE.....) .....he just told Tristan that he could hear something as well. So, Tristan, with his I.Q. of approximately .5, began to try and think up a way to figure out how to *get this folks* make a hole in the wall so he could hear whatever it was better than he could now. (A/N: Look, this is the same kid who punched a boulder to try to stop it from crushing him. This is not exactly a genius at work here.)  
Tristan and Joey both managed to find a very large butcher knife in one of the silverware drawers. It seemed sharp, long, and strong enough to cut through several layers of......whatever walls are made of. (A/N: Speaking as someone who kicked in a piece of her family's dining room wall, I can, in fact, state with confidence that a wall is merely plaster, cardboard, and THEN wood. If you need an exhibit in order to believe me, just come visit my house.....)  
Tristan plunged the sharp blade deep into the wall. Hey, that was weird, the voice was getting louder already....almost like it was yelling or something........  
Well, Tristan managed to push the blade in such a way that a 1 x 2 block of wall was cut out. Joey, meanwhile, was cracking very bad jokes about Pegasus suing them for ruining his house. (A/N: What rescuers they are.......) Tristan peered through the hole to find......nothing. It was pitch-black, and he was going back to that whole "Hoo-boy-I'm-crazy" mindset when he felt someone slap him across the face. Hard. "OW!!!!! Crap, what was that for??????????"  
  
"WHO'S THE MORON WITH THE KNIFE????????" Tristan blinked. "KAIBA???? Is that YOU????"  
  
"YES!!!! Now, WHO is RESPONSIBLE for the TWO INCH GASH IN MY SHOULDER??????"  
  
Needless to say, Tristan had probably just gotten himself into a knee-high pile of crap. Must change subject, must change subject...... "How did you get there?"  
  
"ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Fine, fine...........um, sorry?"  
  
"If I could reach your neck, I would.......what're you doing here anyway?"  
  
"Um......we were kind of looking for you...."  
  
"WE??????"  
  
This somehow gave Joey the idea that it was his cue to wave cutely to the pitch-black darkness. "Look, Kaiba, can you see anything down there?"  
  
"Yeah, I can see your two mugs, but that's really it. The floor I'm standing on is about four feet under the floor you're on."  
  
"Is Pegasus with you?"  
  
"Yeah, he's here but he's been knocked out the entire time we've been here."  
  
Tristan turned to Joey. "Joey, you better go get all the others. I'm not gonna be able to haul Kaiba and Pegasus up here by myself. Plus Kaiba's gonna need some bandages for that cut I just gave him.....you should probably call a doctor...."  
  
"Right on it....."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
(A/N: Okay, we're gonna go back to the serious stuff now....humor break's over.....)  
  
Approximately fifteen minutes later, everyone was in the kitchen. Cecilia stood not too far from the hole in the wall, which Tristan had made much bigger. She didn't want anyone to see how worried she was, but her façade was fading through........she just couldn't take it much longer. Next to her stood the little one, Mokuba. He was doing almost the same thing......trying his hardest to look strong, but he was still crying nonetheless. Cecilia put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. It may have been out of place, but she thought it would help a little.  
Kaiba lifted Pegasus, with some difficulty, to the newly made hole. Tristan, Joey, and Ryou all pulled the unconscious man from the tunnels below into the castle once again. They laid him out on some chairs, and Cecilia knelt beside him. Her face grew paler.....Pegasus wasn't looking so well. He had turned a sickly pale, his clothes were torn somewhat, and there was still the gash on his head that had rendered him unconscious....but worry mixed with relief. Max may not be at his best right now.......but he's still alive. He was going to be alright.  
Kaiba, with the aid of Tea and Yami, was lifted from the tunnel and back to the castle as well. Mokuba, his eyes red from tears, ran up to his big brother and hugged him. Kaiba didn't even care if he was squeezing his broken arm, because for one of the few times in years, Kaiba had to fight back tears coming from his own eyes. "It's alright Mokuba.......everything's alright......."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CK: And that ends another chapter. Did you love it? Hate it? I know I went on too much about Cecilia being worried, but I just got back from finals, so I've got a slight case of writer's block. In any case, if you liked the part with Joey and Tristan, then you're in for a treat next chapter. Next chappie's got the longest humor break in it (one of my personal favorites). In any case, I don't foresee any delays, so next chappie should be up next Friday. By the way, I know I'm breaking the happy streak of what I'm writing here, but could any of you guys that belong to any kind of faith just pray for a friend of mind? She has been seriously depressed for a long time now, and I think that she's becoming suicidal. I highly doubt that anyone I know personally is reading this, so I doubt she'll find out. Her mom's trying to get her help, but could you guys just pray for her anyway? Thanks.  
  
Ja ne! 


	8. Quoth the Raven

CK: Hee-eey! I'm back! And I really don't have too much to say, so let's move onwards!  
  
Disclaimer: CKthePhantomess does not own Yugioh or "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 8: Quoth the Raven  
  
Yami, Joey, Tristan, Ryou, Mokuba, Mai, and Cecilia were all gathered in one of the hallways of Pegasus's castle. In two different rooms connecting to said hallway were Kaiba and Pegasus. A doctor had just arrived and had instructed everyone that Pegasus and Kaiba both needed rest (though in Pegasus's case, he didn't really need to enforce that). The doctor said that they needed rest to recover, though, as Kaiba pointed out 'How does making me feel impatient and excluded help anyone recover?????????'  
In any case, they were resting. The doctor entered the now crowded hallway and turned to everyone there. "Are any of you relatives of Mr. Pegasus, or are you all just friends?" the doctor said while surveying the crowd of people made up mostly of fifteen- year-olds. Friends of Pegasus. Friends. Now there was the misconception of the day.  
Knowing full well that no one else there was even remotely close to Pegasus, Cecilia turned to the doctor. "I-I know him, he's my husband........" The doctor nodded. "Well, Mrs. Pegasus, I need to know how your husband has been behaving as of late. For, say, the last week or so." "I've...erm.....been away the last week. I just got back this morning."  
  
(A/N: Right.........sure.......) "Shit, this isn't good......is there anyone we can reach who might know what Mr. Pegasus has been doing as of late?"  
  
Once again, Cecilia felt rather useless.  
Mai spoke up, to the Cecilia's aid. "I have the phone number of one of his bodyguards.....maybe that'll help."  
  
Everyone except the doctor gave Mai a rather strange look. "WHAT?!"  
  
The doctor waved the strangeness of the situation aside. "Never mind that now, if someone could just show me to a phone, we'll call up this bodyguard and see what he has to say....."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
(A/N: Okkei, folks!!! Let yon humor break begin!!!!!!!!)  
  
The doctor, followed of course by Cecilia & Co., found a phone in one of the guest bedrooms, and dialed the phone number Mai had given him. For some reason, he left it on speakerphone, but, as we're about to find out, that only made this more amusing.  
After three rings, a gruff sounding voice answered. "Whaddya want???????"  
  
Joey looked like he was about to keel over from a heart attack. He turned to stare at Mai. "KIMO??????" Mai immediately blushed.  
  
"WHAT?????"  
  
The doctor immediately had to shut them up, then turned back to the telephone. "This is Dr. Lamorte, I'm here to inquire about Mr. Pegasus's health."  
  
"Wha....? THAT BASTARD SAID WE HAD A WEEK OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Loud noises of disapproval, strangely both male AND female, were heard on the other end of the line. We can only assume that Kimo was not alone. What he was doing on the other line remains to be seen, though from the loud chanting of "Chug, chug, chug!!!", this authoress feels like she has a good guess. "Um.....sir? You don't have to come back to work......I'm just here to inquire about Mr. Pegasus........."  
  
Kimo merely grunted. Some shuffling noises were heard, along with female giggling. (A/N: O.Oº) "Sir....has Mr. Pegasus been acting normal as of late?" "What??"  
  
"Has he been acting normal as of late????"  
  
"WHAT?????"  
  
"HAS HE BEEN ACTING NORMAL, YOU IDIOT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Sheesh, you don't need to yell......anyway, no-one's seen Pegasus for a week, he gave us all a vacation.......it's everyone's last night off , that's why we're all out here celebratin', ain't that right, guys?!!"  
  
Loud agreements were heard in the background. "Well.....is there anyone you know of who has seen Pegasus in the last week or so.....?"  
  
Kimo must not have heard Dr. Lamorte, because the next words that came out of the phone were "I said a BUD!!!! A BUD, you dumb- ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!.........I DON'T GIVE A FRIGGIN' PIECE OF SHIT IF IT'S LITE OR NOT, JUST GET ME A BUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Loud clinking was heard, and the sound of glass breaking followed soon afterwards. "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "SIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "Huh???????" "Look, Mr. Pegasus is in a serious state of health and I would appreciate it if you would at least ATTEMPT to be helpful!!!!!" "Look, Ms. Pissy, no-one's seen Peggy for a week. The guy is such a pathetic loser that he hasn't had visitors in years. And if you want some help from me, you may as well shove your finger up your ass, cuz' I don't really give a crap."  
  
Doctor Lamorte threw Cecilia a helpless glance. Cecilia sighed. "Tell him that they can all get another three days off if he just tries to help at least....."  
  
Doctor Lamorte nodded. "Ms. Cecilia here says that you can get another three days off if you try to help us out....alright?"  
  
"Um........got no idea what you're talking about, but alright. I don't know nuthin' about Pegasus, but you could check with......"  
  
The sound of female giggling replaced Kimo's voice for a second, but then everyone could hear him again, in the background, screaming: "HEY!!! That's my cell phone!!!!!!! Hey!!!!! HE- smash.....fizzle....fizzle.... beep....beep....beep... bzzt.... We're sorry, your call has been disconnected. Please hang up and try agai- ..."  
The doctor, who by now was seriously pissed, angrily ended the call, then turned to the others. "I'm very sorry about that......." He said as he noticed that Mai was slowly tearing up the piece of paper with Kimo's number on it. ".....I'm just concerned about Mr. Pegasus..."  
  
(A/N: Okkei, the humor break's over now. By the way, sorry if that last bit didn't come out as funny......it's just that I lost the original copy that I made when I was writing this just for my friends before I found out about FanFiction.Net......okay, technically, my friend lost it.......and I've been writing this from memory, so I don't remember all of the jokes I put into that last segment......so, in short, SORRY!!!!!!!!) Cecilia had a look of deep concern on her face. "Why?.....What's wrong with him?????"  
  
The doctor sighed. "It's seems so strange.......it seems somewhat like Mr. Pegasus has been neglecting himself lately......."  
  
".........what?" "......well, it seems like he may have been starving himself for the last week or so. Now, I can understand for the last four days.....after all, if Mr. Kaiba is correct, then the two of them have been unconscious for most of the last four days, except for an hour or two ago.........but I really cannot comprehend why on earth a man like Pegasus would be starving himself or denying himself rest......."  
  
Cecilia was practically losing her mind. What had happened in that last week or so?????? "......in any case, it has little bearing, because we need to take both Mr. Kaiba and Mr. Pegasus to the hospital.......neither of their conditions right now are very good...."  
  
"But doctor.....when is my husband going to wake up? Is that serious?????"  
  
"...........yes. To a degree."  
  
Cecilia's heart was sinking lower and lower with every word. "The real problem is how serious the gash to your husband's head is. If it's a shallow cut, then your husband will probably wake up sometime today or tomorrow, similar to Mr. Kaiba. However.........if the gash runs deep, then that may be enough to have sent Mr. Pegasus into a coma......."  
  
"How bad would the coma be?"  
  
"Comas have been known to last years sometimes." Cecilia nodded sadly, trying to numb herself to what she had just heard. Things were getting so complicated so quickly.........and she was frightened to death of what might happen to Max........ The doctor broke her train of thought when he began to speak again. "We should all be getting to a hospital.......Mr. Kaiba is definitely going to need treatment for his broken arm and his cut......" Tristan shifted uncomfortably. ".....and Mr. Pegasus definitely needs medical attention. We'd best leave as soon as possible."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One hour later.........  
Kaiba lay in his hospital bed, 'recovering' as the nurses had recommended. He loathed this....Kaiba was a person with a very short attention span, that's why he had always enjoyed his business....there was always something new to focus on........  
However, at this time, Kaiba was focusing all of his attention on one topic.........He was still having trouble accepting everything that Shadi had just told him.........but still, if it were all true......well, it would explain a lot......  
One of Kaiba's first memories of Pegasus was at a business meeting for several different business owners. While everyone else there was as dead-serious as could be, Pegasus was having a great time making as much fun of everyone....including himself.......as he could. What had he said about Industrial Illusios? "Well, I would never have guessed when I started running the company that anyone could make so much money selling crap.....imagine what would happen if I started selling good stuff......"  
Kaiba, of course, being......well, Kaiba......had thought Pegasus was more than a little annoying. But he never would have guessed evil..........he'd just seemed like he'd had a bit to much Hershey in his blood-stream........  
Well, Kaiba didn't want to get involved in anything concerning Pegasus right now...........he'd seen too much......and as confusing as it was to see Cecilia......he just didn't want to get involved. He wanted to get him and Mokuba out of here and back to Japan as quickly as possible.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((A/M: Erm....slight mention....just so you understand the poem that's coming in a couple of paragraphs........'Aidenn' means 'Heaven' and 'Balm in Gilead' means 'relief from suffering or grief'.....erm...that's all I had to say, and I'm probably underestimating your intelligence anyway....eh....okkei, I should be shutting up right about now..............yeah..........))  
  
Cecilia sat in a chair nearby the hospital bed where they were keeping Max. Funny, in a way, how the roles were just switched. The last time she was on earth, she had been the one lying unconscious and in ill health. And Max had been the one awaiting whatever news the doctors could give him........good or bad.  
She wouldn't be able to bear it if Max died. She knew what death was like.......and, depite what Max thought, it wasn't bad for her at all. But Max......  
Cecilia let out a small sigh. She knew how it all worked. she knew why she had been happy after death.........But with Max, things were different. She may be able to overlook the things that he'd done these last ten years, but that was only because she was his wife, and she wasn't a victim of any of it..........she couldn't be sure how things would turn out if he died........  
She couldn't take thinking about this much longer........ she noticed a small book that she had in her hands. That was strange.....she must have brought it out of habit. She cringed. Back when Cecilia was a child, her dad had gotten very upset if he didn't think she was doing something worthwhile......so she always carried a book around, if he ever stopped to see what she was doing.  
Cecilia flipped through the pages to see what she had brought with her. It must have been one of her books of poetry, from the looks of it.........she randomly selected a poem......  
  
"Eagerly I wished the morrow -- vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow -- sorrow for the lost Lenore-- For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore--  
Nameless here for evermore........ ............................................................................ ............................. "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! -- prophet still, if bird or devil! Whether Tempter sent, or whatever tempest tossed thee ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -- On this home by Horror haunted -- tell me truly, I implore -- Is there -- is there balm in Gilead? -- tell me -- tell me, I implore!"  
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."  
  
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! -- prophet still, if bird or devil! By that Heaven that bends above us -- by that God we both adore-- Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore -- Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."  
Quoth the Raven........"  
  
Cecilia immediately slammed the book cover shut.......the irony was just too sickening..........  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CK: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Another chapter finished!!!!! By the way, sorry if you didn't like the Raven bit......I just thought it was creepy how it could be applied to Pegasus. Also, to all you Pegasus fans out there: When I finish writing this story (that won't be for awhile, though, I promise) I have an idea for a fan-fic that you guys might like, but I just want to know so I don't end up writing something that everyone hates. It's gonna be called 'Orpheus's Descent', and it'll be a fic all about Pegasus's life before the Yugioh series begins.........it kind of explains how he got so messed up, stuff like why he's a Funny Bunny addict, and why he and Cecilia wear such strange clothing. Plus, it'll also explain what he was doing during the TV shows, including some 'additional scenes'..... Oh, and to the Kaiba fans: I'm still working on the Kaiba song-fic, though I'm having trouble finding a song I can use. But don't worry....I'll write it eventually!!!! Until next time, read and review!!! Ja ne!!!!!! 


	9. Blessed Are They Who Mourn

CK: Hey everyone, it's me!!! And...erm....remember the tissues that some of you said you'd used back during Chapter 5? If I've done my job right, you might want to go find them again........and it's songfic time!!!!  
  
I don't own Yugioh, and I don't own 'In My Arms Again', sung by Michael Smith on one of his CDs. (Don't know which one.....if there is more than one.......) By the way, to my friend Jenn out there, thank you SO MUCH for showing me that song. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 9-Blessed Are They Who Mourn  
  
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  
-The Beatitudes  
  
Yugi and his friends sat together in the lobby......with the air of ignorance hanging over them. In all honesty, they really had no idea what they were doing there. It certainly had nothing to do with any worries anyone had about Pegasus........except for Yugi, none of the members of the group had any real compassion for him........and they didn't know Cecilia well enough to take her pain any more seriously than a tragedy they would watch on the news.....  
Yugi, however, was different tha the others there. Yugi's nature just couldn't let him be indifferent to anyone's pain....and Cecilia did seem like an alright person, although all the times he'd seen her so far, she had been in a state of panic. HE even felt a twinge of empathy for Pegasus himself......but most of what Yugi felt right now was pain. Tea had died only two hours ago........and yet, with everything that was going on, the pace at which everything was happening made the others forget their grief. But Yugi wasn't like them. He knew that years from now, he would be able to hear Tea's screams as well as he could remember them now.  
No wonder Pegasus was still insane about Cecilia's death after ten years...........kind of ironic, now that Yugi thought about it.........  
He felt Yami stirring inside his mind......but he couldn't let him back out. Yugi needed to come back to the world after Tea's death sometime.....he might as well get it over with........ No matter how hard it was.......no matter how much it hurt.......  
Everyone had gone to see Kaiba.......restless and cranky as ever. He had told them everything that had happened to him and Pegasus, when he had fallen asleep later, everyone sat back out in the lobby to think about what they'd heard........ The silence was broken by, of all people, Mai. "So.....how do you think he did it?" Everyone else there seemed clueless as to what she was talking about. "'Ow do we tink who did what?" asked Joey. "How Weevil got his hair color. I'm talking about Pegasus. How do you guys think he brought back Cecilia?" Ryou shrugged. "It...it must have had to do with that machine that me and Yugi saw.......after all, that's what she came out of after.........................you know......"  
  
Yugi's head, which had been hanging sullenly, looked up a little. Mai responded. "I know that, it's just that it seems suspicious.......after all, look what he's done to other people. He tried to kill Yugi before......it just seems strange..........."  
  
Tristan nodded. "Yeah, but we haven't got any proof, about that, no matter how suspicious it seems. After all......Yugi and Ryou said she was fiddling with the knobs and all.....before.....it happened....."  
  
Yugi grew angry. Tears slipped silently from his eyes. "Why don't any of you just say it?????? Why can't any of you just say that Tea DIED????" Tristan shifted a little uncomfortably. "We....we just didn't want to keep reminding you of it, Yug.........you're taking this the hardest.....she was your friend before she even knew any of us........"  
Yugi was crying now, tears streaming freely down his face. "I'm going to remember her death without your help......just stop acting like you didn't know her, like this was something you read in the news............. It's not.........." "Yugi, clam down............."  
  
Yugi swallowed, then nodded. Why was he freaking out like this? Why was he the only one crying while everyone else had faces of stone..................? Mai returned to the conversation as though nothing had just happened. "The only reason I'm here right now is to figure out what scheme Pegasus has up his slimy sleeve that's killed Tea.....and......"  
  
She jerked her head in the direction of Pegasus's hospital room. The door was open, and everyone knew that Mai wouldn't want Cecilia to hear what she was saying. "......I mean, she seems nice and all, but she really picked the wrong guy in the romance department. My bet is that Pegasus has some way of bringing people back to life by killing people.....it would explain everything. It would be just like him to lure someone into that sort of a trap like that......."  
  
Yugi looked a little puzzled. "But Mai.....Pegasus would need to have someone to be put in the trap...........................and Kaiba said that Pegasus was the only one on the island when he got there........"  
  
Mai seemed stumped by that one for awhile, until her eyes brightened. "Kaiba." "What about him?" "He's the one Pegasus wanted.......................................and that machine that Kaiba was going after.......he'd said that no one had bought any of those kinds of machines for years..........so I'm betting Pegasus used it as a lame distraction to get Kaiba onto the island....after all, Pegasus probably still despises Kaiba, after all, we all know Kaiba ain't too fond of him....." Yugi sighed......"Mai, there are so many gaping holes in your idea. We'll need more information then what we've got right now to figure this out......." Mai smirked. "Oh, I think I know one way we can get information without even leaving the building. "How?"  
  
Mai jerked her head in the direction of the hospital room once more. Yugi was horrified. "MAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"Yugi, keep your voice down!!! Look, she seems to know more than I'd have ever guessed about what's going on. I can't exactly say what it's like to die, but I'm willing to bet she's seen a lot of whatever's been going on with Peggy for the last ten years......."  
  
Yugi, having died at Pegasus's hands only to return minutes later, knew that Mai was right, but didn't want to tell her that...........it felt almost like they were using Cecilia................................................. "I mean, think about it!!! She knows immediately to speak in Japanese instead of English around us, I think she even called me by my name once or twice.......she'll be perfect!!!"  
  
"But how come she didn't know where Pegasus was....?"  
  
"Who CARES????? What we need now is someone to talk to her, someone who can get bits of information without her getting suspicious....."  
  
Tristan raised his eyebrows a little. "So you mean....someone who's friendly, someone who's good-natured and nice......" Joey nodded. "Prob'ly should be smaht enough ta know what's crossin' any lines 'o sumthin......someone who's got a talent for dealin' wit people....."  
  
Yugi had been following what they said in a sort of daze, not realizing what they meant until it hit him like a sledge-hammer. "What??? You don't mean........ME?????" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
In the middle of his coma, Pegasus was dreaming........................... It was the night Cecilia died.......and Pegasus was able to remember every detail of it........  
Cecilia was as pale as a ghost.......her golden hair framed her face, sleeping, unaware that she would not wake up in the same realm where she had started.  
She didn't move, not at all.....her breathing was light, and her hand was as cold as ice when Pegasus held it in his own......Pegasus remembered wondering if she had already died and no one had noticed.....  
Pegasus watched this all in an out-of-body experience.......although he wasn't experiencing it first-hand, Pegasus still felt his loneliness and pain well up again..........Pegasus ached for her to be with him on Earth again.......like he always did. He murmured her name.... "Cecilia"........ I really wanna see you I really wanna touch you If only I could hold you in my arms again I really wanna reach you Forever to be with you If only I could hold you in my arms again  
  
Pegasus had always loved Cecilia.....but remembering times like these always resurfaced it, stronger than last time......and it also brought along the loneliness that flowed through him.  
He couldn't imagine living without her.......he had always loved her, he knew that he would always need her with him......even if she didn't feel the way he felt. One of the happiest days of his life was when they told each other how they felt................it would stay in Pegasus's memory forever..........  
  
It was written in the stars On the pages of my heart Oh, that someday I would find The love I feel for you tonight  
  
Sometimes, even when Cecilia was alive, Pegasus was alone.............her parents shuttled her and her sisters around between two different estates throughout the year.......his own parents did the same......but every winter shone in Pegasus's memory, because Cecilia would be there..........the day that the two of them had married was the happiest day of each of their lives.............he'd thought that then would be the end to all his loneliness.......even if it was only the two of them, he wouldn't be alone.....she was all he needed.........she was the only person in the world that truly seemed to matter to him..........  
  
On the ocean of our dreams Like a prayer you came to me And the longing that had been Found its ending in your eyes And I am missing you tonight  
  
Pegasus saw himself stroke her face gently with his finger.....he remembered hoping that she would stir, hoping that she would wake up and they could escape from this nightmare.....escape from all that would occur for the ten long years to come..... He didn't think it was possible to forget her.......and, as much as it hurt, he didn't want to........she was the beacon in the storm, the light in the tunnel.............she was his salvation, but she had died......and, for the one time that mattered in his life, Pegasus had no control over what was happening................. Guilt gnawed away at him......he felt like this was his fault....if only he'd known she was sick, if only he hadn't taken her out in the cold, if only he'd watched where she'd stepped.......................  
They say that the guilt phase of dealing with death passes fairly quickly in most cases. Pegasus was still going through it ten years later.  
Pegasus watched the nurse walk quietly up to him, seeing in her eyes that she hated watching people unhappy.......but she too had no control over what was going on......  
She tapped his shoulder.................  
  
I really wanna see you I really wanna touch you If only I could hold you in my arms again I really wanna reach you Forever to be with you If only I could hold you in my arms again  
  
He watched the nurse tell him that it was time......time for her to take away the only thing that was keeping Cecilia alive.... Pegasus had wished that there was someway to blame her for all this......but no machine was going to keep Cecilia now........  
They say that eventually, you come to the point where you can accept the loss of a loved one........but Pegasus didn't. Maybe he just couldn't. It made no sense......Pegasus had come to grips with loss before. His parents had died shortly after Cecilia.....his brother had vanished years ago.....and all of his friends from before had abandoned him for one reason or another.......loss was one thing that Pegasus knew well.......  
  
Across the waves, across the sea Separating you from me Here's a promise and it's mine I will love you for all time I'm wishing you were here tonight  
  
Pegasus watched the doctors remove all the machines.........he saw himself grip Cecilia's hand tightly, pleading silently once again that this would all end............  
The heart monitor started to slow......in very little time, it made no sound whatsoever, and he knew that Cecilia had breathed her last....  
She hadn't even gotten the chance to wake up..................... Pegasus watched himself quietly......he kissed Cecilia three times...........once on her left eyelid, once on her right eyelid, and finally on the lips...........  
The nurse told him that if he'd like, he could stay a little while longer.........but Pegasus refused. If he didn't leave now, he knew he might never truly be able to leave...... Once Pegasus really thought about it, he realized that he never had.  
The hospital room began to melt away, but Pegasus didn't notice. He was too caught up knowing that Cecilia was dead and that there was very little he could do about it...............  
  
I really wanna see you I really wanna touch you If only I could hold you in my arms again I really wanna reach you Forever to be with you If only I could hold you in my arms again  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CK: Okay............I have finished another chapter!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just need to ask one thing from you readers: tell me what you think of the story idea I told you last chappie!!! It's a SERIOUS fic, and I'm gonna be bored if I only type up my humor fic once this story's over with (once again, that's not gonna be for awhile, but I need to plan, folks....) So if someone could just respond, that would really be great......I don't even care if you're telling me you don't like the idea, I want to know if I'm about to type crap. So anyway, that's it, read and review!!! Ja ne!!!!!! 


	10. Dreamers

CK: Okay, folks, I'm back once again!!!! Thankee muchly for all the reviews...I think I'm gonna start *gasp* actually responding to them in my chapters. Here goes:  
  
To Kaiba-fan: Hehe...well, erm, I guess you got your wish! New chappie ho!  
  
To Yggdrasil's 3rd Root: About the Edgar Allen Poe thing that you mentioned last chappie: Yeah, isn't that really really creepy/cool? I had to watch this video about him last year in school, and it turns out that he lost his wife/cousin (O.O) at a pretty young age too. So it kinda makes sense that he's a lot like Pegsy....  
  
(Okay, I know, I really really suck at responses.......)  
  
Okay, so that's really it.............um, by the way, if this chapter's talky to anyone, then I am reeeeeeeeally sorry, I really did try to cut back so it wouldn't be so bad this time.......unlike Chapter 6. *turns red* Hehe.........anyway, I'm starting to show signs of babbling, so I'm just gonna get started with the good 'ol ficcie now..............  
  
Disclaimer: Yes, I DO own Yugioh!!!!!!!!!! All this time, I have been posing on a teenage girl, when I am REALLY Kazuki Takahashi in disguise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have waited so LONG to reveal myself to the fanfiction community!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MUAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *realizes that people are staring at her funny* Okay, SHEESH, I'm NOT. You guys actually FELL for that?????  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 10: Dreamers  
  
As Pegasus's dream ended, the world surrounding him changed. It seemed as though it were melting away, into a different place completely.  
  
(A/N: Déjà vu, anyone?)  
  
The room seemed like a parlor of sorts............it was very dark, and dank, unlike most that Pegasus had seen in his lifetime. The wallpaper was a deep, dark shade of indigo, and dead flowers were held in crumbling vases around the room. Paintings were sprawled everywhere on the walls, hanging crooked, and depicting scenes of pain and mourning..... And against the wall, in the center of it all, was an open coffin...........Pegasus observed a little more of his surroundings before he moved on to it......he saw dust and spider-webs lurking almost everywhere.......like no one had touched this place for a very long time.........Pegasus also got a very deep sense of claustrophobia, because there was no light, nor windows, nor doors..............................finally Pegasus stepped forward to peer into the coffin....  
He stepped backwards in shock once he saw.......it was Cecilia......lying in the coffin, her eyes wide......she was dead, but her eyes seemed to be following him wherever he moved........... A chill ran down Pegasus's spine...................................... A heavily accented voice sounded from behind him. "You might wish to leave this part of the room.....it only will bring back memories that you do not wish to see......"  
  
Pegasus turned around immediately.  
Shadi's face was passive, but you could detect a hint of extreme seriousness in his tone of voice as he spoke. "Welcome, Mr. Pegasus.....to your own mind..........."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yugi slipped into the hospital room quietly, hoping he wouldn't startle Cecilia. In all honesty, he couldn't believe he'd agreed to Mai's scheme. After all, Cecilia had been a nice enough person......so why was it so necessary to deceive her? He felt like he was using her........  
  
But then Yugi remembered Tea....and a he would immediately feel a pang of pain in his heart. He knew the only reason that any of his friends were there was because they needed to know why Tea had to die........ Why she had to suffer like that.............. Yugi tried to push his grief aside. As much as it hurt now, maybe the pain would lessen once he understood what had happened......what was the phrase they used on all those talk-shows? Oh, yeah, once he had a 'sense of closure'. "Excuse me.....Yugi, what are you doing here?"  
  
In attempting to be so quiet as to not startle Cecilia, she had startled HIM. Inwardly, Yugi reprimanded himself for being so girly.........  
"I-I'm sorry....I just thought that you might be lonely all by yourself so I thought I could come and keep you company......"  
Okay, not a bad cover-up....but, wait, isn't that the sort of line a guy gives a girl when he's flirting with her in a movie???? Then again, what am I saying? Note to self: kill Mai for this later......Well, I don't think Cecilia will think I'm flirting with me......after all, if she's the same age as Pegasus then she should be 16 years older than me......well, actually, 6 years older than me....you can't exactly age after you die......  
Yugi reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hoped that Yami wasn't listening to all this. Cecilia, unaware of what Yugi was thinking to himself, simply nodded and motioned to another chair that was next to the one she was sitting on. "Please, have a seat."  
Yugi did just that, and then turned and got a good glimpse of Pegasus. Back when he and the others had been rescuing him and Kaiba from the tunnels, he hadn't really gotten a good look at what had happened to him. But now that he had, he was taken completely aback.  
Pegasus was as a sickly pale white, and the bandages on his forehead were coated with blood where the gash was. Odd scars covered one of Pegasus's arms, and lines were visible on Pegasus's face, making him look much older than he really was........A heart monitor blipped over in one corner, and a breathing monitor did the same. An IV filled with fluids was connected to Pegasus's arm......perhaps worst of all was the contorted look of pain that Yugi could see on Pegasus's face.......  
Yugi had seen lots of movies where characters had been in the hospital, but Yugi knew automatically that they weren't able to show what it was truly like to see someone in a condition like that......after all, this man was supposed to be one of Yugi's worst enemies, but the sight of all this still sickened him. He let out an involuntary gasp.  
Cecilia heard him and nodded. "It's terrible, isn't it........? I never knew that people could look like they were so close to death and still be alive............"  
  
"Yeah.....it's hard.....my grandpa's had to go to the hospital twice, and it's been hard each time....."  
  
Cecilia stiffened slightly. Yugi realized immediately that Pegasus had been the one to send his granpa to the hospital the second time....it was probably a sensitive for her..... "S-sorry...I-I didn't mean....."  
  
"No, it's alright............it's not your fault what Max did............you shouldn't have to apologize for him hurting you so badly......"  
  
Yugi turned a deep scarlet. In a strange contrast, Cecilia had turned somewhat paler...... Yugi tried to desperately change the topic to something more neutral....he wasn't going to be able to help his friends figure out anything if he kept this up......... "So have the doctors said anything about what's going to happen to him?"  
  
"They've said very little......but they did say that he'll live, thank God........"  
  
Cecilia turned her face towards Yugi. "It's strange.......there are so many TV shows and movies and books out there that talk about hospitals and the people in them.......but they must have absolutely no idea what it's like to have someone you care about locked away in one of these places........."  
  
Cecilia sighed. "Except for when my sister was born, I've never been into one of these places.........so I never expected it to be so terrifying....well...." Cecilia smiled in a way that showed neither amusement nor laughter. "I have been to one of these places once before......but I can't exactly say that I woke up to realize it............."  
  
She let out a nervous giggle that was sharp and raspy, and devoid of all merriment. Yugi winced when he heard it.  
Yugi racked his brain for something to say, but Cecilia began to speak first..... "Funny that the snow's falling.......I always liked the snow, it always seemed to be that snow would mean that things were going to get better soon..........don't ask me why........"  
  
(A/N: I originally wrote this in December!!! Don't kill me!!!!!!!!!!!)  
  
Yugi knew that he needed to start asking Cecilia questions soon, or else he wouldn't find out anything....but how the heck could he ask her anything?  
  
Gee, Cecilia, I think your husband just murdered someone. Could you please help me out and tell me you saw him do it?  
  
Yugi finally asked Cecilia: "Do...do you know why Pegasus has been starving himself? Like...like the doctor said?" Yugi applauded himself silently for finally figuring out something that didn't sound completely idiotic.  
  
(A/N: Meanwhile, the author does the same...YAY!!!!!!!!! ^u^)  
  
Cecilai shook her head slightly...... "I really wish I knew.....but I know about as much as you do about what's going on......the thing is that for the last week I haven't been able to....."  
  
"HEY!!!!!"  
  
Yugi and Cecilia whirled around to the voice that had just yelled at them. A nurse stood near them, bristling at the mere sight of Yugi. "Excuse me, sir, but are you a close relative of Mr. Pegasus's.....?" The nurse4 asked this in a way that implied that she already knew that he wasn't. "Erm....well, not exactly...."  
  
"Well, I'm afraid that in this hospital, only close family members are allowed to stay in the hospital rooms of patients, so I'm afraid you'll just have to leave."  
  
And with that, she unceremoniously picked him up by his jacket collar and kicked Yugi out.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Pegasus stared incredulously at Shadi. "Shadi....? W-what are you doing here....? "Nothing, really, Mr. Pegasus....why don't you step into this part of the room? I'm afraid that this part of the room is much cheerier than the one you are standing in." Sure enough, when Pegasus walked over to the half of the room that Shadi stood in, he instantly felt much warmer than he had been in the last room, and much more light filled the room.  
This half of the room was very unlike the other half. It seemed like a sort of living room, with a large fireplace in the center of the opposite wall, and some an armchair sitting near the fireplace. Against the wall there were various things...a desk, filled to the brim with Duel Monster cards.......a few bookcases, seeming to be loaded with comic books...........and a nightstand, with what seemed to be a large photo album. Only if you opened the book and peered inside would you see that it held the memories Pegasus had of his times with Cecilia. On the mantle of the fireplace, leaning against the wall, was a humongous portrait of Cecilia.  
Shadi continued to speak to Pegasus. "I just needed to tell you one last thing before you return........so I came to the one place I could be sure I could find you......" Shadi spoke calmly, but Pegasus detected some anger in his voice.  
  
"What do you need to tell me?"  
  
".......the same thing that I told you the first day I met you: give up your quest for your wife...."  
  
"You mean...but I can't, I...."  
  
"I did not come here to listen, Mr. Pegasus, merely to tell. You have already harmed so many people......but just because things have been neatly rearranged so that it seems like you never were involved, this does not mean that you can keep on trying......." Pegasus said nothing, and expressed no emotion to Shadi........ Shadi turned to face the large painting that lay on top of the fireplace. "That painting you see there appears to be hope, Mr. Pegasus..........but you cannot see its true nature...."  
  
Shadi walked up to it and seemed to be trying to touch the painting.....instead, his hand passed straight through it...... "Can you understand yet? This painting offers your mind the false hope that you can restore things to the way they were before, without any consequences............but it is a deceiver, Mr. Pegasus....."  
  
Pegasus had been silent for a while, but finally he spoke up....  
  
"I'm not going to make the same mistakes as last time....I can promise you that much...................."  
  
Shadi nodded, then inhaled deeply. "There are so many troubles in this world......wars that kill for no reason.........small children dying because their parents are dead or cannot pay for food.........illnesses that kill slowly and without mercy.....so why is your pain so special? Why should the world help you instead of them...? You have been lucky to have even had her to begin with.....do not continue like you have done before..." The anger in Shadi's voice began to resonate.  
  
When Pegasus refused to respond, Shadi spoke again. "I think it is time you returned, Mr. Pegasus."  
  
And he snapped his fingers, and Pegasus saw only blackness.....  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Pegasus lay in his hospital bed, and he opened his eyelids so that a sliver of vision met his eyes. He opened them fully, but closed them again..........  
Cecilia's chair was facing the hospital window, as she watched the snowflakes fall outside. She sighed. Her mind was so deep in thought that she did not notice her husband.  
Pegasus thought to himself: Shadi's taunting me, isn't he.......he's sent me one of his illusions to make it seem like Cecilia is here.......wherever I am. Well, I'm not that gullible.....I'm not going to fall for one of his tricks......  
Cecilia's daze seemed to have ended and she turned to Pegasus. She stroked his face with the back of her finger for a minute.... "Max...."  
  
Pegasus heard her voice......even if it was an illusion.........he could play along with it for a while......couldn't he....?  
  
It couldn't hurt........ And it would be so nice if it were true..............  
Pegasus finally dared to open his eyes. Cecilia blinked. "Max.....?" She held one of his hands with her own and whispered his name again....  
  
Pegasus heard her...and hoping desperately that this wasn't a dream, he turned to her. "Cecilia....? Is that....you...?"  
  
Tears of joy swept over Cecilia's face. She kissed Pegasus and cried happily. "Yes, Max, it's me...........I'm back......."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CK: Okay....I have FINALLY finished another chapter!!!! And to the Kaiba- fans out there: GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have finally, FINALLY found a song that I can use in a songfic for him, and that I know doesn't suck!!! So a songfic on him should be up in no time!!! Also, to the Pegasus-loving people: WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THE STORY IDEA I GAVE YOU TWO CHAPPIES AGO????? I need some sort of response, positive or negative, whatever, just TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!!!!!!!!  
Okay, I'm done ranting now. Read and review!!! Ja ne!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	11. Snowfall

CK: Hello!!!! It's me again, returning to give you yet another chapter of this saga, which seems to be about almost everyone trying to find out one thing: 'WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?????????' Okkei, I'm done screaming now! I think I'd better get started on the ficcie though. And if SOMEONE doesn't tell me what they think of that story idea soon, I may start a fic about Kaiba or Pegasus doing....I don't know, SOMETHING!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (But nothing dirty between them, don't worry...................)  
  
BTW, my chapters are probably going to get shorter from now on. If I keep writing chapters as long as the ones I normally write, than this story will be over in a month. And I really want to make the conclusion to the story this time around a lot better than last time. (Last time, I was sitting in the middle of a busy bowling alley while I was writing the last 2 chapters, and all the while, I had to keep getting up to bowl, and my friend Daine was hovering five feet away, egging me on to 'FINISH ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!')  
  
Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Yugioh. But if I'm lucky, my parents might get me it for my birthday!!!!!!!!!!! ^ ^ Of course, that's a snowball's chance in hell.........................  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 11: Snowfall  
  
While Pegasus and Cecilia were tearfully reunited, Yugi sat outside in the lobby, explaining to everyone once again what he and Cecilia had said......and he was getting a little annoyed. "Look, we all know that I did a really bad job, so can we just move on and forget about this....?"  
Mai, ever the involved persona, just sighed. "Just tell me exactly what she said before the nurse kicked you out."  
  
"She said something about.............."  
  
"Exactly what she said."  
  
Yugi sighed. "She said something like, 'I wish I knew, but I don't know very much about what's been going on. I haven't been able to....'" Yugi signaled that his quote was done. "That's all........................."  
  
Mai seemed a little angry. Yugi was surprised, considering Pegasus had really never done anything to hurt her.....but then again, Mai did have that talent of hers for being a know-it-all, which would explain how she felt. "I just don't get it................I KNOW he wanted to kill Kaiba, I KNOW he did....................................there's got to be proof, there just HAS to be........................"  
  
"I know that this might sound crazy..............." Everyone turned to look at Ryou. He hadn't spoken in a long time, but now he looked as though he had been concentrating very hard on what everyone had been saying. Everyone listened closely to what he had to say. "...I know that everyone is going crazy trying to prove that Pegasus wanted to kill someone.............and, well, I honestly can't blame you for thinking that, it wouldn't surprise me at all....."  
  
Tristan frowned. "So what are you trying to say? Come on, spill it!!!" "I'm saying.........what if Pegasus wasn't trying to kill anyone else at all.....?"  
  
"What? You mean that the machine isn't supposed to kill people????"  
  
"That's not what I meant......I mean....well, Pegasus has probably been miserable for a long time since his wife's death.....so I mean, would it really be so hard to believe that he would kill himself for her.........................?"  
Yugi thought that wasn't too bad a guess when he thought about it. But the others did not seem to think so. Tristan shook his head vigorously. "No way................"  
  
Mai and Joey nodded. Mokuba, who had fallen asleep in a lobby chair hours ago, said nothing. Joey turned to Ryou. "Listen, it's not like ya 'ad a bad idea, dere, Ryoo. It's just....."  
  
Mai picked up where Joey left off. "It's just that the whole point of bringing her back from the dead in the first place was so that they could be together......so it's kinda pointless, he would've just shot himself or something to see her again........"  
  
Ryou blushed a little. He mumbled "I suppose you're right......"  
  
While the others were talking, Yugi was thinking about what Ryou had said, and trying to figure out if he really was as wrong as the others said.....  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Pegasus was in Heaven. Or at least he thought he was. It was an hour later, and he lay in his hospital bed, smiling contentedly at the ceiling. And for the first time in ten years, he felt himself overflow with joy. She was back. SHE was back. And she would be staying with him, forever.  
It was two hours after he had been reunited with his beloved Cecilia. They had spent the last hour and a half in terful reunion, but Cecilia was tired. When Pegasus noticed the dark circles that had grown underneath her eyes, he had pretended to fall asleep himself to give her some time to rest. Poor thing, she looked so beautiful when she slept. It made Pegasus smile.  
And all that could run through his mind was the knowledge that they were reunited. And that he would let nothing separate them this time.... Nothing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CK: Okay, DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And shame on all of you for not reviewing last chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, I'm not going to be able to update for 2 weeks, since I'm going to Boston. Anyways, R & R! Bai bai!!! 


	12. Nothing Gold Can Stay

CK: Hey, you guys, it's me again! Sorry I took so long to update, but I have to write this friggin' paper for my AP Global History class, and let's just say that a certain educator at my high school will be shot by the new year. Or at least I'll pretend to shoot him. In my head. Yup. But I'm babbling, once again, so I'll just go straight to the responses.  
  
Oh, yeah, and my Kaiba song-fic is UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Yggdrasil's 3rd Root: Yeah, doesn't Ryou have it bad? He's got a creepy Yami, looks like a girl, and now no-one will listen to him. (('Cept Yugi- kun.....^ ^ 3)) And, erm.......about the whole 'Pegasus wouldn't kill anyone' thing.......well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news.....but, erm, he DID technically kill Yugi in their duel in the Shadow Realm. But then Yugi somehow came back to life. Hey, maybe Pegasus should ask Yugi how he came back, then he wouldn't have needed to be all evil and bug Kaiba and Yugi during Season 1!!! WE GOT OURSELVES A HAPPY ENDING FOLKS!!!!!!!!!!! ((Hehe, sorry, my iced tea just kicked in.....)) In any case, thanks for the review!!!  
  
Chromefox: YAY!!!!! New reader!!!! Welcome aboard!!! ((Once again, sorry, iced tea makes me high and hyper.....)) Anyway, thanks for the review and the compliment!!! Hope I see you around!  
  
Okay, done with that! I better get to the story already.......  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh. If I did, then I would round up all my friends and we would dub Yugioh so that it actually sounds GOOD. But I don't. Which sux. I could have played MAI!!!!!!!!!! *sob sob*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 12: Nothing Gold Can Stay  
  
Nature's first green is gold Her hardest hue to hold Her early leaf's a flower But only so an hour So leaf subsides to leaf And Eden sank to grief And dawn goes down to day Nothing gold can stay -'Nothing Gold Can Stay' by Robert Frost  
  
The hospital staff had been shocked, to say the least, when they came to check on Mr. Pegasus. And here they were, ready to tell Mrs. Pegasus the bad news about Mr. Pegasus's coma!!!!! Well, at least this would make their jobs a little easier.......still, they'd run tests and....well, HOW could a man in such a serious coma wake up so frigging QUICK????????????????????????  
In any case, after Pegasus had a good chuckle at the doctors' expense when one nurse began screaming about ghosts, there seemed to be no point in keeping him at the hospital much longer. After they ran some tests to be absolutely POSITIVE that nothing was wrong, they officially released Pegasus that evening. By this time, Cecilia was awake again, and, well, although she was overjoyed, there was that slight awkward problem of explaining why some of his worst enemies were out in the lobby. Especially when Kaiba walked in on him in the lobby after being released in a cast at about the same time. Fun discussion, no da?  
To make things even more awkward, there was a small matter of everyone staying at Pegasus's that night. By this point, it was about five o'clock in the afternoon, and they were all starving, except Kaiba and Pegasus, who had been on IVs this whole time. Not to mention that the hospital was a two hour boat ride from Duelist Kingdom, where Kaiba's jet and Ryou's helicopter were. And it would take several more hours to fly from Duelist Kingdom to Japan. And everyone there was exhausted. So, with very few other reasonable options, it was decided (mostly by Cecilia, who was the only one there who hadn't had any life-or-death situations with anyone else there) that they would all stay at Duelist Kingdom that night.  
  
Needless to say, there was some.......erm.....'grumbling'. Especially from the Kaiba brothers, though they did take the liberty of excusing themselves to the hospital restroom before doing so.  
  
((A/N: Can you blame them?))  
  
Yugi recalled all this to himself as he lay quietly in one of the Duelist Kingdom guest rooms. Although he wasn't exactly happy staying at Pegasus's again, at least this time he wasn't about to face any life-or-death situations. How optimistic.  
And though he hated to admit it, Yugi was glad about one thing. It did give him much more of an opportunity to look into Tea's death. Once he and his friends had proof that Pegasus had a killing machine lurking in the dungeons ((hey, he'd be happy enough to get the police to notice merely the DUNGEONS)), then maybe Tea's death wouldn't be for nothing. At least then, Pegasus would be locked away somewhere where he couldn't hurt any more people. But he still needed to prove it.... Hmmm....... Yugi pictured himself smoking a pipe and wearing a deer-stalker hat. "Elementary, my dear Watson."  
  
He heard a snigger coming from behind him. Yugi sighed. "I really have to learn to lock my soul room." Yami's voice replied. "What, and prevent me from having some fun?" "Yes. What're you doing awake?"  
  
"Watching you. I just want to make sure you take care of yourself, Yugi. I admire you, but you do have to know when you're going in over your head."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I just mean be careful. After all, Duelist Kingdom isn't exactly filled with happy memories for anyone here."  
  
Yugi nodded. "I'll be careful, Yami, I always am. Why are you so worried, anyway?"  
  
Yami sighed. "I'm sensing things again......sensing emotions from the future, like before Tea died."  
  
"What do you feel?"  
  
Yami lowered his head. "It's strange.....I sense.....I sense tears..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Cecilia sat up in bed with a start. She looked around and realized that it had all been a dream. Just some horrific nightmare. Nothing had happened.  
Cecilia put her hand on her forehead and sighed. She turned to face her husband, who was sound asleep, smiling childishly.  
She grinned. I love him......he's a dope sometimes, but I love him......She lay down again, facing him, her arm wrapping itself around his chest. She shut her eyes, remembering her dream.  
It was odd......and it frightened her more than it probably should have. And it was a very weird dream in any case.  
She saw it clearly in her mind......she was in a field with Max......when all of a sudden she had turned into a river. She flowed across the field, and people saw her and were happy, because they thought she was so beautiful. And Cecilia was happy being a river......she loved it, and she flowed in a circle around the field until she came back to where she had left Max.  
When he saw her......he screamed. The second he screamed, he turned into lightning. He stayed in a cloud for what seemed to be years, until he unleashed a storm......all the people Cecilia had seen by her banks were struck, and they writhed in agony on the ground when he hit them. She was screaming............she just wanted him to leave them alone......and then the clouds seemed to calm down..........but one small, accidental bolt came..... It hit the river, and....... Sizzle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CK: Okay, so what'd you think???????? I kinda threw that dream sequence together at the last minute, and it was only for fun, so it probably wasn't that good. But anyway, I am really sorry that I haven't been getting this out every week like normal. It's just that I have this paper due about a week and a half before school starts, and let's just say that I've got some work to do. Plus, I thought I'd switch off the weeks that I was working, so I wrote a new chapter for my humor fic two weeks ago. I was planning on posting this last week, but my birthday was Wednesday ((go me!!)), then on Thursday was the Great Blackout of 2003, so I had no electricity for almost 24 hours ((me, almost all of New York, and large chunks of the East Coast)), then Friday night me and my family drove up to visit friends until Saturday night, then on Sunday we went to go see relatives. So now ya know. Okay, so R & R and I'll post later. 


	13. Darkness Stirs

CK: Why???? WHY?????? I'm a nice authoress!!!! I try to update every week, unless something happens!!!!! I'm always happy to see reviews!!!!!!!! Where did I go WRONG???????  
  
Yugi: What HAPPENED????  
  
Yami: The readers didn't send her any reviews for last chapter.  
  
CK: *honk honk sniff* Don't you LIKE me anymore...???? *honk*  
  
Yugi: *pats CK on the back*  
  
CK: *stops sniffling* ^ ^  
  
Yami: Don't you have to start writing now? If you don't update this Friday, it'll be over two weeks....  
  
CK: Yeah, I know. Okay, I'll type. *turns to readers* But as punishment, this chapter is gonna be SHORT!!!! REALLY REALLYSHORT!!!!!  
  
Yugi: She's lying, the only reason the chapter's short is she only had an hour to type this up.  
  
Yami: Yeah, but THEY don't know that.  
  
CK: So, anyway, here's the next chappie. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!! I'm DYIN' OVER HERE!!!!!!  
  
Disclaimer: The whining authoress does not own Yugioh. Gee wilikers, that's a shock.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 13- Darkness Stirs  
  
Bakura stared out his window, a cold look on his eyes. He softly fingered a large knife that he had snuck along with him to the island.  
Why wasn't Pegasus dead????? When he'd gone missing, when he'd been in the hospital, when he'd been in that coma, they all seemed like sure signs that the bastard was breathing his last. How was it that he went through all that and was still living, breathing, flesh and blood????????  
Bakura's attention turned to the Duel Monster cards that lay on the guest bed. Why had they failed him??? When he had seen into the future, Doma had predicted that Pegasus would soon be silenced.......for eternity. The cards had never lied to him before, so they couldn't be wrong now....... perhaps they just needed more time to fulfill their promise.  
Bakura knew that Pegasus remembered him.......even when he passed out in that pool of blood, he still remembered Bakura's face. He'd seen the look in Pegasus's eyes when he's seen him......there was no way that much anger and fear could be in his eyes without remembering.......  
Would the fool rat him out....? His hikari had heard from Yugi about that Shadi person looking for him....looking for the one who now possessed the Millennium Eye. Even if Pegasus were smart enough not to blabber about it openly, there was still that wife of his.......if he told her, then who knows what trouble THAT would cause?????? Women love to gossip, don't they?? And it wasn't a question of whether or not he would tell her, a man that blindly in love didn't keep secrets....... And even if he tried to threaten her......death probably wasn't as terrible a fate in her eyes as in others......even if it was her own husband's.....  
The little gears in Bakura's head were turning, slowly, then gaining speed as he thought........... Those two had been exhausted when everyone had returned, so he doubted there was any time for chit-chat, they probably went straight to sleep.....so he probably didn't tell her anything........so the only one I'd have to deal with right now is him........  
Bakura held the knife he had been fingering up against the window pane, so that it gleamed in the moonlight.....and grinned........when they find out....I'll be one of the last ones they suspect....if the bitch wakes up first, then he'll be all alone, no one to hear him scream....... Perhaps tomorrow morning he'd pay Pegasus a little visit..... 


	14. Memento Mori

CK: YAY!!!!!! Thank you, you reviewers, you kind and wonderful people!!!!! I would hug you, but this IS the internet, which provides problems for that...........anyway, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
To SweetCandie: Hehe........yeah, Bakura ought to be punished VERY VERY badly....muahaha, I'll have to think of something too.....I definitely can't wait to see what you come up with!....and also, don't worry, I don't seriously get depressed over reviews or anything, I just get a little bitchy......((^ ^;;;;;))  
  
To Kabuki: Yeah, I looked over the dream sequence later, and it definitely wasn't as good as it maybe it could have been. And even though Bakura's blood-lust is a big deal, Yugi and the gang aren't really involved this chapter.......  
  
And one last thing: I know that I have a habit of putting stuff in my story for no reason, or very little reason, but I PROMISE-promise-promise- promise-PROMISE that there is a reason for what happens in this chapter. If this didn't happen, then a some stuff that comes later wouldn't be set in motion, and the climax would eventually not happen.......just a little FYI....  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 14: Memento Mori  
  
Bakura crouched down around the corner from Pegasus's room........the hallway he was in was a mere twenty feet from Pegasus's door. He peered around this corner, waiting for any signs of movement, hoping desperately that the bitch would wake up first......she would most likely take the other hallway in order to go downstairs, and if she didn't.....well, he wouldn't have much of a reason for being there, but he would soon have the fun of a double homicide on his hands........  
He even had the details all figured out.........just simply covering his mouth with his hand, and a quick gash through the throat..........even if Pegasus had the presence of mind to bite at his hand so that he might scream for help in his death throes, by that time his throat would be filled with so much blood that he couldn't make a sound, and after a few minutes of thrashing about, his corpse would litter the ground......  
And Bakura would be safe in his room by then.......no one would have an alibi, and who would suspect him? Yugi and his friends all thought the Ring was gone, why would they even turn to think of him....?  
  
((A/N: Since I haven't been keeping track of Yugioh for the past few months, I don't know if this is true anymore, and I've only seen the Japanese versions of episodes I've seen in English (not my fault!), but, like I said before, this takes place right after Kaiba is rescued from that video game.....))  
Hmm.....this job was rather simple, compared to some of the others that Bakura had done........normally, he had time to get creative, say, pillage the victim's house, or leave with one of their limbs carried under his arm......the least he could do under normal circumstances was cut off the man's dick and watch him squeal for a while..... But now was not the time to reminisce about the good old days, he had to be alert, or he'd slip up...... Bakura's ears perked up soon.....he heard footsteps.......  
Cecilia stepped out of her bedroom wearing a bathrobe over her nightgown, closing the door behind her gently. She turned to the left, away from Bakura.......soon, Bakura heard what sounded like footsteps treading down a flight of stairs.... He waited a few minutes so that she wouldn't be able to hear any noise he made, then he crept into Pegasus's room..........  
He grinned. The bastard still slept.....this would be all too easy. Really, murder gets boring without any sense of a challenge. But, sadly, with so much risk here, it was out of the question. This wasn't ancient Egypt, it wasn't as easy to escape confinement these days........... Pegasus, half-asleep now, sensed movement......Cecilia had just left the room, and since he was a light sleeper, he'd sensed it somewhat......but there was more movement now, and it wasn't Cecilia.....  
  
Bakura took out the knife and raised it in his left hand......his right hand hovered an inch above Pegasus's mouth, so as not to disrupt Pegasus's sleep.....when the knife had done its work, then he could use his hand as a gag, but not a second before.....and not a second after......... The knife felt comfortable, familiar in his hand......Bakura felt the joy of the kill all over again, even before the blood was spilt.....he always felt like a snake........keeping the kill still with your gaze, until you strike, making it the last sight that they would ever see.......  
  
Poised, tense, he was the snake, ready to strike.  
  
Pegasus listened to what he thought was a mere nothing......but even while he was half-asleep, he still wondered.....that wasn't Cecilia there, he knew her footsteps were light and quiet, these were heavier and made the floor boards squeal underneath them.....so who on Earth.....?  
  
Pegasus's eyes snapped open a mere second before Bakura's blade began its strike, giving him barely enough to time to grab the blade to prevent his own eternal slumber.......... The rage that pulsed through Bakura's veins was equally matched by the fear and desperation in Pegasus's own.......why? Why now...? Cecilia was here, he was happy, after so many years of going through life an empty shell of hatred and despair, why now........?  
After a few seconds, Pegasus kneed Bakura in the stomach, making him fall against the wall. Bakura was soon on his feet and lunging wildly at Pegasus with the knife. Pegasus kept trying to dodge the blade, but there was only so much room, and Bakura's rage gave him adrenaline and speed..........Pegasus fell backwards, and Bakura took full advantage of the fact........he used his right hand to try and hold his neck still, and with his left he raised the knife.... Until...... Footsteps........ Shit..........  
Bakura immediately shoved Pegasus inside of his closet, his hand firmly planted over his mouth as a gag, the knife dangerously close to Pegasus's throat......Bakura went inside and closed the closet door.......Pegasus was beginning to bite his hand, and it stung like shit, but Bakura didn't even flinch...he couldn't mess this one up, he wasn't spending the rest of his hikari's life rotting inside of a prison..........  
Cecilia walked inside, looking around confusedly...."That's strange....I could've sworn I heard....." She shrugged, then began to make the bed, quietly and carefully....  
Bakura was using so many swear words that he could make a sailor blush if he wanted to.........he knew that his resolve was holding up, Pegasus's bite was drawing a lot of blood, what a mess that was going to be..........Bakura thought quickly, since he knew that hikari was supposed to leave that day.....and he wasn't going to be able to find Pegasus alone again, not after this, not without him carrying a concealed weapon.....  
He hissed into Pegasus's ear. "If you rat me out.....if you tell anyone, ANYONE, about the Eye, about me, about what just happened.....she'll be in the grave while the coffin's still warm....understand???" He pressed the blade so close to Pegasus's neck that a small trickle of blood began to trail down his neck.....  
Pegasus's eyes widened......that was it.....that was why............he nodded quickly and Bakura let him go.  
Cecilia, still making the bed, slit her eyes.........that little cretin.......she had heard exactly what he'd said. And he thought she didn't know..................... 


	15. Bad News

Okay, hiya folks, it's, me, CK! I am REALLY REALLY sorry that I have not updated by now, it's just that my parents took away my computer privileges when I flunked my Chemistry test. I am sneaking on to deliver the message that I am REALLY sorry bout this. Ill probably get my privileges back by next week, but I figured I'd write this just in case I didn't. Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be up Friday of next week. 'K? Alright, see you soon...I hope! 


	16. Consequences

CK: I'M BAAAA-ACK!!!!!! After major, major groundage (is that even a word?) I GET TO USE THE COMPUTER AGAIN!!!!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!! Oh, before I forget, here are the responses..........  
  
Kabuki: Hehe.....yeah, I oughta think of something rotten to do to Bakura, he was definitely asking for it.......and about Cecilia: erm...........well, uh, you might want to read this chapter, you'll know how she reacts......  
  
SweetCandie: Cecilia? Oh, she's just a little peeved about Bakura trying to hurt Pegasus.........she could sorta hear him, and let's just say she's not too happy.......  
  
Sailor Twilight Assassin: YAY!!!!! SOMEBODY FINALLY RESPONDED TO THE STORY IDEA!!!!!! *glomp* Here, since you were the first person to respond to that, you can have THIS!!! *holds up a Pegasus plushie* He's yours!!!! And if you pull the string on his back, he says "Your turn, Yugi- boy".......  
  
BTW, another FYI for ya...like I said before, I KNOW that I'm the queen of sticking dramatic stuff in for no or little reason, but I DID need to put in the thing with the diary. It gives some major clues as to why Pegsy built a killing machine in his laboratory..okay, well THAT just plain out gave THAT away...  
  
Disclaimer: I don't know why I'm so weird about saying the disclaimer every week, but, once again, I get to waste space saying that, no, I DON'T own Yugioh.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Consequences  
At breakfast that morning, an uncomfortable silence had settled on the table. Due to.....'recent events'.........not to mention the hatred that ran through the blood of many who sat there.........well, let's just say many people didn't have an appetite. Well, alright, except Joey and Tristan, but when do they NOT have an appetite?  
When every last one of them had pushed away their plates, declaring themselves full, Pegasus and Cecilia did their duties as 'hosts' and gathered the plates and began to wash them in the kitchen. Once the two were out of earshot, Mai began some more of the talking/squawking that she had been doing ever since they had arrived.  
She began fumbling through her purse, pulling out random cosmetics to make room for her to continue to search. "I have something to show you guys........something I think'll help us out big time......."  
  
Kaiba, cranky, as per usual, spoke up "You didn't happen to read Nancy Drew books when you were a kid, did you Mai?" Mai began to turn red. "And if I did....?"  
  
"Ah, that explains it."  
  
"Explains what?"  
  
"Why you are apparently obsessed with 'solving' this 'case'."  
  
"Shut up." Mai ignored Kaiba and finally located what she was looking for, then held it up for all to see triumphantly. Tristan raised an eyebrow skeptically. "A book?"  
  
Yugi, however, knew what it was and began sputtering protests. "That....you can't.....that....MAI!!!!!!!"  
  
"Whaaaaaat? This could be a key to all of the answers we want."  
  
"But you can't just......."  
  
Joey butted in. "What is it, anyway?" Yugi responded quickly. "That's his diary!!!!!!!"  
  
Mai shushed him. "Not so loud!!!!! If one of them came back and heard you....." Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Search without a warrant, robbery, intrusion of privacy.......well, Mai, I must say you're on a roll if you want to rot in an American prison for the rest of your life."  
  
"Shut up.....anyway, I'm gonna need your help with this, I can't understand a word of English...."  
  
Kaiba quickly stood up and began to stride away from the table. "No thanks........any time I do I get involved in something concerning Pegasus, my ass or Mokuba's gets into a major jam....."  
  
With that he left.  
Mai seethed. "Alright, well, who else can read English here?" Ryou mumbled. "I suppose I could....." Mai had shoved the book under his nose before he had a chance to finish his sentence. "READ."  
  
Ryou picked up the book timidly, then looked at it. "Erm.....what part of it exactly do you want me to read?"  
  
"Anywhere from the last week or so."  
  
"Alright....."  
  
Ryou scanned the pages, then frowned. "He's only written once since Duelist Kingdom...and it doesn't say much of anything...I think he must have written it in the hospital."  
  
"Well????? Let's hear it!!!"  
  
"Okay.." Ryou began to read it aloud, although he stumbled every now and then on the words. "Dearest Cecilia....I think I miss you more tonight than any other...things have become chaotic and I am the one to blame for all of it...what happened to me? Was I always so cruel when you were alive? Have I changed? Or have I always been this way, and only just noticed? Would you still love me even if you were here now? I can't bear to think of what may be your answer...  
Perhaps I should have been the one destined to die. Things wouldn't have turned out this way. I almost killed him.I tried to kill someone who had done nothing to me...nothing...I'm still wondering when I turned murderous..I almost killed Kaiba, too. Can you forgive me, Cecilia? Can they? If I had died and you had lived...things would have been so different. You wouldn't be like this. You wouldn't do these things. You would have moved on...who knows, maybe you'd be married to someone else now, and maybe you two would have had children, too.......and maybe I'd be in Heaven, and at least one day we would be reunited.  
..I think I've lost my chance for Heaven......maybe I really will never see you again........... Even now, with all these things done...I wish you could come here. Even if you can't forgive me. You always fix things somehow...could you fix this? Could you fix something so evil and so horrendous? Could you? There's no way I ever could..I wish, and I wonder, and I hope, but it seems to be for nothing....Maybe I'm better off dead. Maybe the world would breathe a sigh of relief if I just disappeared. I know no one would miss me. I know no one would cry for me. I know if you were here you would....................it's funny, how many times I keep thinking what things would be like if you were in this world. I suppose I'm a dreamer, that I can't accept your death even now..........  
The doctors are coming in to check on me again, so I'll have to stop writing for now...I'm sorry if my tears blurred the ink, darling.." Ryou looked up. "And that's where he stopped writing.."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((A/N: Okay, we're about to have some sort OOC-ness here, but let me explain first: I think Cecilia's a nice person and all, but I am not playing her off as a saint here. There's a point where we all snap, or have already snapped, and Bakura either hit that point or came pretty friggin' close, at least. She's gonna be pissed. Erm, also, if you're one of the readers who also reads my humor ficcie, you can blame the following scene for that on-running 'Cecilia-carries-a-butcher-knife-up-her-sleeve' thing.....))  
After the rather uneventful breakfast, Ryou walked down the halls so that he could head back to his room. He knew that Mai was probably still squawking back in the dining halls and forcing the others to listen, but at least he'd managed to escape. As he walked, he watched the windows that ran along one of the walls. The snow that had been falling the night before was melting now that the sun was out.....too bad. It had looked so pretty last night, glittering in the light. Oh, well.  
As he turned one of the corners, he almost walked straight into Cecilia. "Oh, I'm sorry, miss." He apologized, and then continued walking. Cecilia gave no signs of any reaction until he was about five feet away from her, when she spoke up suddenly. "I heard you threaten him."  
  
Ryou turned around and blinked. "Excuse me?" Cecilia shut her eyelids tightly, and replied. "I heard you threaten him. I saw the blood on the carpet." She opened her eyes. "I know how you got those gashes on you hand."  
  
Ryou looked down at the gauze wrapped around his right hand. He knew that he had woken up that day with his right hand mangled badly, but he had no idea what she was talking about. For all he knew, he had been attacked by a rabid squirrel in his sleep. He looked back up at her, but before he could say a word, she spoke again, as she pulled a long object out from her sleeve. "You left this behind." The blade of the butcher knife gleamed in the sunlight. It looked especially menacing now that stains of blood trickles ran down the length of the blade.  
When Cecilia said this, it was only a moment more before Bakura stood before her instead of Ryou. "I thought that that would bring you out." She said dryly. Bakura slit his eyes and glared. "What the hell do you want me for, girl?" Cecilia glared right back and spoke to him icily. "Lay a hand on my husband ever again and I'll chase you around the universe if that's what it will take me to kill you."  
  
Bakura laughed. "Who, you? You're not exactly that threatening to behold, not to mention that you're talking to one who has spilt blood many times in the past." "I believe I'm the one holding the knife." Bakura began to chuckle. "How could I forget?" He paused for a moment, then began to laugh again. Cecilia slit her eyes. "What's so funny?"  
  
"Basically, you're willing to murder a murderer to avenge the murder of a murderer. I must say, you seem a little prejudiced." "Shut up." "What? Perhaps you're just worried that he and I will be roommates in hell, is that it?"  
  
Cecilia said nothing, but Bakura took that as an affirmative. "Well, I suppose I can't blame you.......after all he's done, really, I can't see any other place for him to go once he's pushing up daisies. But, then again, you would know more about that than I would, wouldn't you?"  
  
"Just shut up, or I'll kill you now." "You couldn't even kill me if you tried. Shouldn't you have learned that by now? All you'd do is kill an innocent bystander, who had nothing to do with any of this. Poor little Ryou. Really, girl, don't you have a heart?" He mocked her in a way that stung, but the expression on Cecilia's face never changed. Inside, however, she was begging and pleading Bakura to shut up so she wouldn't have to kill anyone. She didn't want to shed blood, and, hopefully, she wouldn't need to.......but if he tried to kill Max again.....well, even she had her limits. Even if she didn't want to kill Ryou, she was in flesh and blood again, when it's a lot harder to control your emotions..... The best she could hope for now was Bakura just giving up.  
The thoughts running through Bakura's head were much more mocking and sinister than the ones in Cecilia's. //She must be scared out of her mind if she's actually gotten the knife......Hehe, poor little bitch, coming to her husband's rescue, how sad, how sentimental, how sickening. I wasn't even going to go near him anymore, and now she's gotten so worked up. Little bitch, she's a tiny girl in a grownup's world and all she can do is put on a brave face and hope she can scare me. It's so amusing to watch, and she seems so blindly sure that she knows what's right and wrong. She must not have a clue about Tea.......// Bakura's train of thought was interrupted when Cecilia spoke again. "You're preaching to me about having a heart when you're the one who's enslaved that boy in the first place. You're a hypocrite to make others seem cruel when all that blood is on your hands."  
  
"Well, it's just funny to me to think that you're spouting all this shit about me being a murderer when the person you want to protect is just as murderous as I am."  
  
Cecilia narrowed her eyes. "Don't blame him for something that's my fault. Besides......he's changed, and I doubt you ever will."  
  
The quiet snickering that Bakura had been doing before had turned into a loud cackle. Cecilia cringed, and Bakura laughingly spoke again. "Really, girl, you're just a barrel of laughs aren't you? He's planning murders of his own in the basement and you spout shit about him being changed. You're too naiveté, little girl, and you're too frigging gullible."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
Bakura folded his arms across his chest. "Really now, insulting me and then expecting me to give you information. Really, girl, where are your manners?"  
  
"Tell me now or I'll......"  
  
"Ugh, quit with your threats already. If you want to know, then I want a favor."  
  
"......................What's the favor?"  
  
Bakura grinned widely. "Give me my knife back."  
  
In no time at all, Cecilia had tossed the knife in Bakura's general direction. He sniggered as he picked it up, but didn't notice that Cecilia was fumbling around for a new source of worry.  
  
When he stood back up, he was looking straight into the barrel of a gun.  
  
By now, he was a little bit more concerned than he was before. Even he knew what a gun was, or at least had a general idea, thanks to Ryou's action movie obsession. What DID that kid see in this "Arnold Schwarrzenegger" anyway? Well, that wasn't really the issue at hand, and all he knew about these 'pistol' things is that when you pulled the trigger, people bleed and die. And Bakura was not in the mood to spend several thousand more years inside of a ring. It seemed like this was a good time to do exactly as she asked. "I gave you your knife back, now why exactly were you spouting trash about my husband?" "Just follow me, and I think I'll have enough evidence to convince you."  
  
Bakura made his way through some of the hallways, being careful not to do anything that could be mistaken for a sudden movement. Cecilia followed steadily behind him, the gun pointed squarely at the back of his head. It was cruelly ironic, at least for Bakura, that the roles of power had been switched so easily. He could have all the knives in the world, but even they didn't have the strength of a single well-aimed bullet.  
  
Ah, well, at least he got to have a front-row seat for the shock of the century.  
  
When he reached the correct bedroom, the one which held the corpse, he opened the door, then held it open, mockingly. "Ladies first." Cecilia, gun still in hand, replied curtly. "After you."  
  
Bakura shrugged, and entered, not even bothering to switch on a light. The darkness would create an eerier effect on the corpse. Cecilia followed about three steps behind him. Her eyes widened in horror when he pulled the sheet back off of Tea's rigid, pale corpse. She staggered to her right to gain support from a nearby wall as waves of sickness passed through her.  
Bakura smiled cruelly. "Doesn't she look young? Innocent? She probably had a bright future as well. But all for nothing........I suppose I should give your Max some credit.....after all, I doubt he was ever after her.....but she died at the hands of one of his creations, asphyxiated in his laboratory...."  
  
Cecilia felt like she was going to collapse. This was not happening. This was some mistake. It was a lie, there was just no way................Cecilia could have sworn that, as she stared at the corpse, Tea's glassy eyes were watching her..............Bakura kept on with his sadistic monologue, and all she could do was listen. "........even if he never wanted to kill her, I must say, the fact that he has his own little gas chamber downstairs does seem to indicate something sinister on his part......but, then again, I'm just spouting trash, like you said, aren't I? After all, your beloved Max wouldn't ever allow blood to be spilt by his own hands, now would he........."  
  
"Shut up, just shut up!!!!!!" Cecilia still held the pistol, though she doubted she was very convincing the way she was shaking. "Just leave!!!! Go!!!!!"  
  
Bakura smirked. As he left, he commented, "If you were worried about his soul before, I suggest you pray for him.....there's not much else you can do........"  
  
Cecilia could have sworn that hours passed that she stayed there, trying to recover from the shock..........how? How could she have been so wrong? Hadn't Max changed??? Or maybe she was just too blind to see anything past what she wanted to believe. Maybe she was just a foolish girl too enamored to notice that her husband was as much a murderer as he was before.  
He found her later....how much later, she didn't know. But by then she had stumbled out into the hall, and the way Pegasus smiled and asked her where she'd been for the last half-hour, she almost deluded herself into thinking that this entire day had been a dream. Max looked so upbeat, how......?  
  
"Cecilia, are you alright? You look pale, are you ill?" Concern filled his voice, and she tried to smile a little but it would have been perjury to her to do so. "Max....I...I....."  
  
"Yes, what is it?"  
  
"I.........." He followed her gaze into the room, and saw for himself Tea's remains, and he too grew pale.  
  
"How......how....?"  
  
"I was about to ask you......"  
  
Her voice was beginning to crack, but she kept talking. "She was choked to death, Max....h-he said.......something you made...it killed her............"  
  
Pegasus didn't even ask who she was talking about......he just held his head in his hand, kneeling next to the corpse. "This........this wasn't what was supposed to happen...."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CK: Yuuuuuus!!! I finally finished this chapter!!! I probably should have been done LAST Friday, but I took forever typing something for my other story, and then I kinda lost my mojo.....((I know, weird word, blame Joan of Arcadia....)) Anyway, I'm done for now, so read and review!!!! 


	17. Staggering

CK: Hey, it's me again, I'm back. Sorry I took so long to update, but I had five tests last week, so I was studying my ass off, basically. So, anyway, here's the responses...or response, come to think of it:  
  
sakuuya: YAY!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!! You agree with him!!! *goes all professional* Technically, I can't tell you whether you're right or not.....but THANKEES!!!! ^ ^ *jumping up and down......don't ask, just don't ask*  
  
Okkei, so anyway, here's the next chappie!!! By the way, I just found out last week that, this entire time, my italics haven't been working...T.T......which really sucks, since I've been writing everyone's thoughts in italics, so that must have been really confusing for you guys. So basically, I'm gonna go back and change it so that all thoughts are written between slashes, //like this//, so if you want some clarity, you can go back and re-read it. I'm also gonna change some stuff that was wrong when I was writing about Pegsy and Cecilia, 'cuz I didn't see the un- dubbed Cecilia episode until a month ago, so some stuff I wrote was wrong, and I changed that too. I think that's all I gotta say, so chappie ho we go!!!! Oh yeah, and this chappie's a little shorter than normal, 'cuz I couldn't type Monday and Tuesday.  
  
Disclaimer: Since when do I own Yugioh? When? WHEN, I tell you, WHEN????  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
Pegasus stood up and began to walk out to the hallway, staggering like a person does when they've stepped onto a boat but haven't gotten their sea-legs. His eyes were wide, he felt like he was reeling, and the blood was gone from his face. He staggered his way past Cecilia and continued down the hall, as though some hard blow had been delivered to his head.  
Cecilia watched him for a few seconds, nervous and curious at the same time, then quickly walked up to him and grabbed his shoulder. "Max......Max, do you know what happened to her? What happened to that girl?"  
  
Pegasus turned to face her, looked at her, then turned away. "I.....I don't know........" She stared at him. He could feel her watching him, and he felt like a small boy who had done something wrong and was about to be chastised for it. He pushed a loose strand of hair behind his ear nervously, then began to walk again. This time Cecilia did not follow him. Instead, she merely asked, as he was walking away: "Where are you going?"  
  
"I need to talk to Yugi-boi......" And he rounded a corner, leaving Cecilia to herself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~  
Outside, a skirmish was going on as a tall brunette and a shorter white-haired boy got into a slightly heated discussion. "Kaiba, I'm telling you that you are *not* going to be able to just fly yourself home!!!!" "Says who???"  
  
"Says everyone!!! For the love of goodness, your arm is broken!!!!"  
  
"I can fly with one arm. For most maneuvers, all you need is one."  
  
"Yes, and if you hit a spot of turbulence, then you'll be absolutely jumping for joy when you realize that you'll be dead five seconds later."  
  
"Oh, be quiet. I don't want to stay in this crap heap any longer, so fuck your turbulence." "Yes, you do that, but since you're taking Mokuba with you, do you really want to be so calm about getting hurt because you were so reckless?"  
  
".......fine, then why don't we just come with you?"  
  
"I'd be happy to take you, but we've got to many people coming as it is. We barely fit last time."  
  
"So you're all just gonna leave me here on psycho-pony's island??????????" ".......psycho-pony? Never mind, we'll stay here until one of your men can come to get you."  
  
Kaiba groaned. "Even if I called one of them now, it'll be hours before they'd come. I'd be lucky to get out of this place tomorrow morning!!!"  
  
((A/N: Does anyone know how long it takes to fly to California from Japan? 'Cuz I don't......))  
  
Ryou sighed. "Well, that looks like your only option. You'd better call someone now if you want to get out of here as soon as possible."  
  
"Fine." Ryou walked inside as Kaiba whipped out his cell phone and began to dial.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ Yugi was walking down a hallway when he heard footsteps from behind him walking rapidly in his direction. He turned around, and there was Pegasus. He opened his mouth to ask what he wanted, but Pegasus cut him off. "Yugi............what was that girl's name? The one that was always with you and the rest of your friends?" Yugi blinked. If he had expected Pegasus to ask any question, that really wasn't one of the ones on his list.  
  
"Um.....her name was Tea....."  
  
Yugi could've sworn he saw Pegasus flinch when he said 'was'. "Yugi-boi....." "Yeah?"  
  
"........how did she die?"  
  
Yugi blinked. Duh. That would do it. No one had told Pegasus, or at least until now, had they?  
  
" .......she dies....in your laboratory.....yesterday........."  
  
Pegasus gripped Yugi's shoulders, with the look of a man in a panic. "How? HOW did it happen?" "She...she went into that....that machine, the chamber....she messed with the knobs....and it killed her...."  
  
Pegasus still had a look of fear, a look that scared Yugi more than when he had been the maniacal soul-stealer he once had been, with his look of sadism and utter hilarity. Pegasus let go of Yugi's shoulders, then began to walk down the hall the way he came, in a horrendous daze. Yugi watched him for a few seconds before he asked a question of his own. "Did you kill her?"  
  
Pegasus kept walking, not looking back, as he answered. "Even *I* don't know what I did...." 


	18. C'est la vie, c'est la guerre

CK: Hello there!!!!!! Once again, 'tis I of the weirdness!!!!!!!!! Okkei, I better get to the responses, 'cuz I am WAAAAAAY too hyper.........  
  
Kabuki: Yeah, poor Pegsy...why does everyone hate him so? Minus the soul stealing thing....and anyway, your curiousity won't be satisfied for awhile, 'cuz I've decided to be mean and not tell anything until the end.....  
  
Sakuuya: Gomen, gomen, I didn't mean to make it so short. It's just my writer's block's been acting up (it's like a medical condition, I'm tellin' ya....). But I *think* this chapter's longer than last time. It's definitely funnier, if that's any consolation. BTW, I finished writing up your date with Shadi, it should be up by tomorrow or Sunday.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ C'est La Vie, C'est La Guerre  
  
((Ugh......this chapter may be messed up a little, I had such a bad case of writer's block........ergh, this story is ending SO different than the first time I wrote this......then again, the WHOLE STORY is different.....so that's making things difficult.....so gomen, basically...))  
  
Pegasus hid himself away in one of the rooms of his castle. He needed to be alone, without anyone disturbing him....not even Cecilia.  
  
How could he have been such an IDIOT?????? How could he have thought that Cecilia'd just popped into thin air, making a guest appearance after seven years? Wasn't it OBVIOUS what had happened? Why did he have to wait to find the corpse to realize what had occurred? Well, ignorance is bliss, he supposed, but it was too late for that now. Now how to solve the problem.........  
  
He couldn't tell Cecilia what he had almost done. He couldn't, there was just no way. He knew how she'd react, and he wouldn't be able to bear it. Come to think of it, he couldn't tell any of them. He didn't particularly care what *they* thought of him, but word might leak to Cecilia. It would have to remain a secret.  
  
He knew he wouldn't be able to bear it if she found out.........he could already see the look of guilt and sadness on her face...........and he could practically hear her tell herself that she shouldn't have 'let' him do something like that........her self-esteem was not the best.......and he hated himself whenever she was like that............  
  
But now the more important issue.....what was he going to do about this Tea girl? Cecilia hadn't said who she'd found out from, but it had to be one of *them*......well, they must particularly loathe him now, no doubt about that. He could fix the problem, but who would be sacrificed? The machine was like a deal-maker, one life for another, which was why he hadn't built it until after his plan against Yugi failed.  
  
Pegasus sighed. Aaargh.......if only they hadn't even set foot on this island.....then everything would have worked out as planned. Well, except for the part where he fell through the floorboards......that wasn't exactly part of the plan either......  
  
He'd have to start from scratch this time......but he already knew what the outcome would be......  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~  
  
Later that day, Yugi and Company were seated in one of the guest rooms of the castle. If this had been them in another situation, this would have been an ideal time for an orgy, but 'twas not meant to be. Instead, they were having a meeting, although this did not mean that certain participants (namely, Tristan and Joey) were thinking about that orgy idea.  
  
Yugi sat apart from the others. He could barely hear what they said as he thought to himself. They didn't know about Pegasus's confrontation yet. He wanted to figure out what *he* thought of what was going on before the others bombarded him with their own opinions......  
  
What had he seen?......That emotion on Pegasus's face, what did it mean?....he had seemed..........astonished, he guessed......like when a painter steps back and realizes that he's painted the Mona Lisa.....  
  
Wait, no, that wasn't right. If a painter paints the Mona Lisa, he steps back and is astonished, but he's happy and feels a surge of pride..............Pegasus had stepped back from the canvas and hadn't seen a Mona Lisa, he'd stepped back and seen a work from a nightmare.......  
  
That's what that emotion had been.  
  
Horror.  
  
But why had it unsettled him like that? After all, this was Pegasus, who had more than the average person's amount of sins weighing down on them. He was the one had calmly killed Yugi, without the blink of an eye, who had sent others to their fates without caring. For one who valued his wife so highly, he had very little concern over the lives of anyone else.  
  
So what changed? Maybe it was like the reaction a four-year old had when he's caught breaking something. Put on a sad face, make a few apologies, say that you'll never ever do it again, and the world just smiles and shakes its head a little. No problem. After all, last time around, Pegasus had all the control. He had lackeys, he had magic, and he hadn't just run up a hospital bill. Well, those were gone, and there were seven people he had to contend with.  
  
Yes, that was probably it.  
  
Yugi finally stopped zoning out and tried to listen to his friends.....but all they were doing was yammering on like they had been doing for the last two days. How long would it take for them to admit that they had no idea what was going on, or had been planned, or what anyone was thinking? All they had managed to do these two days had been say they're 'theories' or 'ideas' and basically yak it up. Yes, just your normal everyday chat about murder, corruption, and magic, folks, nothing out of the ordinary about *that*.  
  
Yugi noticed that Ryou was the only one who was as quiet as he was. So that basically meant it was Joey, Tristan, and Mai who were blabbering, since Kaiba basically despised everyone else who inhabited this place, except for Mokuba, but he had been stuck to his brother's side since the hospital trip.  
  
Hmm.....just Mai, Tristan, and Joey? Yugi knew it was a little mean, but he did get a kick out of imagining them in Three Stooges outfits.  
  
((A/N: As innocent as Yugi is on the outside, there's no friggin' way he's all innocent on the inside.....for crying out loud, I go to school and people think I'M innocent. ME!!!!!!!!! Does that not say something?))  
  
Yami watched amusedly as his hikari had his three friends perform a small Three Stooges skit in his imagination, eye-poking and banana peels included. When Yugi had finished the grand finale, in which Mai and Joey did a kick-line while Tristan kept trying to peer up Mai's skirt, Yami applauded a little, making Yugi turn red.  
  
//Yami!!!!!//  
  
The older and taller of the two laughed. //You have a tendency to daydream a lot, don't you? Especially during that 'school' that you keep going to....//  
  
//I have to do something to pass the time there. You can't tell me that *you've* been paying attention during all of my classes.//  
  
//Hehe.....what if I told you that you got an 85% on your last math test?//  
  
//Hey, how could you know? We haven't gotten it back yet!!!//  
  
//You botched number eight in the multiple choice section because you circled '2' accidentally, even though you meant to circle '3', which'll cost you three points. Then you screwed up the 12-point question at the end because you mistook a sine curve for a cosine curve that was shifted, and you were too caught up to show any work because the bell was going to ring in thirty seconds.//  
  
//...................//  
  
//You still got a good grade.//  
  
//.......why do I even try to pay attention in school if you enjoy it more AND understand it better?//  
  
//Now, Yugi, that's not fair to the other kids who didn't have the fortune to solve an ancient Egyptian puzzle. Besides, learning is good for you.//  
  
//Alright, since you're so smart, what have Joey, Mai, and Tristan been saying for the last half-hour?//  
  
//Not much, really. The same old 'We don't like Pegasus, Pegasus is bad, Pegasus should be sent to the time-out chair and spanked'.......not that I don't agree with them.//  
  
//.......*spanked*?//  
  
//I didn't mean it like THAT.//  
  
//.....o-kay then.//  
  
Yugi decided it would be a good idea to snap back to reality before disturbing images popped up into his head....ugh, Yugi was getting the willies from THAT one. He noticed that they seemed to be wrapping things up, so he figured now was as good a time as any to ask what had been gnawing on the back of his mind for a little while now.  
  
"Um.......I just want to ask you guys something."  
  
Everyone else in the room seemed surprised that Yugi had spoken, but they turned to face him so that they could listen.  
  
"Well....who told Pegasus that Tea died?"  
  
Ryou blinked, then spoke up as well. "He knows?"  
  
"Yeah, he asked me before what her name was and what had happened to her....so who told him? I know I didn't."  
  
After the initial shock wore off, everyone murmured to themselves that it hadn't been *them*.......eventually, since no one spilled the beans, they just shrugged it off. After all.....  
  
......how he found out wasn't THAT big a deal, was it?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ CK: So there you go. New chappie done on time this week, so meesa is proud. So I'll just update this thing, go cry my eyes out watching Joan of Arcadia, then let you guys handle the reviewing part, if you could ^ ^. 


	19. The Olive Branch Is Hidden

CK: Hello.....its me, your ever-writer's-block-ridden authoress!!! ^ ^;;;;; Okkei-day, to the responses I go!!! MUA-hahahaha!!!!  
  
Sakuuya: Thanks for the compliments!! ^ ^ I'm glad you liked your date with Shadi, I really like it when people request dates 'cuz they're so fun to write. Mehehe.....I still can't believe the T-shirt I made him wear...........LOL.  
  
Im Evil: I did? Lemme see.....*checks* *turns red* Oops........hehe......thanks for the compliment, though!!! And yes, I shall continue, even if it does take me three weeks....LOL, hehe.  
  
Okkei, that's it! To the chappie we go!!!  
  
Disclaimer: Once....a long time ago.....in a galaxy far far away.....I actually DID own Yugioh.....but then....THEN......a man named Kazuki Takahashi.........came and stole my precious Yugioh......for he wanted it for himself.......and he became a millionaire off it, while I....I remained an average person....and then....then.......when I told this same speech to someone else I knew......George Lucas stole the introduction to my disclaimer......*sniff*......so now I must say that NO, no I do not own Yugioh or Star Wars or any such thing.....but that is my tale.....  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ No One Can See the Olive Branch  
  
((A/N: Once again, major apologies, this chapter may be shitty thanks to my writer's block becoming a chronic illness.....ah well, once I get to the conclusion in a chapter or two, I should be okay again.....))  
  
By the time dinner had rolled around, the Three Stoog------I mean, Joey, Mai, and Tristan-----had become too hungry to keep chatting so much. This was a major relief for Yugi and Ryou, who were silently making "yak yak yak" motions with their hands for the last ten minutes. Not to mention Yami making more jokes along the lines of the "spanking Pegasus" thing just to freak Yugi out. Mai, Joey, and Tristan *still* didn't know why Yugi's eye had been twitching that whole five minutes.  
When they had finished dinner, they brought their plates back to the kitchen to wash them---Cecilia had thrown something together, even though she was not the best of cooks---while Cecilia cleared everything else off of the table.  
Yugi noticed one thing out of the ordinary....where did Pegasus go? At breakfast he had stayed with Cecilia the entire time (thanks to some bad blood going around, they'd eaten in the kitchen instead of the dining hall). Now, he was nowhere in plain sight, and Cecilia had eaten with them for this meal.  
Yugi stood up. "Here, let me help you." He assisted Cecilia in gathering some of the dirty plates. "Oh, thank you, Yugi." When they finished collecting the plates, Yugi helped Cecilia clean the dishes: she washed, he dried. Conversation between them was......awkward, to say the least. Mostly about the weather, especially how fast the snow seemed to be melting. Past that, though, very little was said.  
When the last dish was put away, Yugi tried to casually ask the question he's dried all those dishes to get answered. "Oh, by the way.....have you seen Pegasus around? I would've thought he'd be spending the day with you......"  
  
Cecilia smiled a little, though with a hint of sadness, showing she'd been waiting for some sort of ulterior motive to surface. "I really don't know what he's doing, but I saw him go downstairs to one of the laboratories a few minutes before." Again the sad smile, but this time it appeared because of memories of a girl she had never met or spoken to, yet may have died unwittingly for her.  
Yugi, not noticing any of this at all, nodded fervently. "Oh, alright, thank you." He walked out of the room at a faster pace than was probably necessary, leaving Cecilia to herself. Alone, once again.  
  
She though to herself. Well, since Max must be working, maybe she could walk around the island for awhile....she'd never seen it up close before, and no one needed her......  
  
No one would care if she left for awhile, would they?  
  
She went in search of her coat, planning a day involving no-one but herself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~  
Pegasus pulled one of the wires, cursing under his breath when a spray of sparks came out along with it. This was going to take awhile....aargh....  
He continued to fiddle with the control panel of the chamber in his laboratory. He had to get moving if he wanted this thing up and working before the Yugi-tachi left. They wanted this Tea girl back, right? Well, that's exactly what'd happen.....if these FRICKIN' WIRES JUST DID THEIR FRICKIN' JOBS AREADY............................  
Well, then again, it was partly his fault that he had to fix this thing anyway....the break-off switch made the entire set of machines shut down after they were used to fulfill their deadly purpose.... At the time he'd been building it, it had seemed like a good idea....he knew what Cecilia's face would look like if she stumbled across the corpse (not unlike what had happened that morning)....he knew how upset she'd be and that she would feel guilty for it.....but if she tried to reverse the process, she wouldn't be able to do a thing....she didn't know the first thing about machinery or electronics.  
  
If he could stop her from that, then his job would be done.  
  
As he worked, the one word that the Yugi-tachi had been murmuring this entire time came into his head:  
  
Murder.  
  
Well, what else would they think? They weren't complete idiots, they'd have figured out what this piece of scrap metal did eventually. But he knew he was as good as dead if they decided to confront him. Nothing he'd say would be able to stop them.  
So what COULD he tell them? Hmm..........well.....none of them except the Kaiba brothers really had a clue about advanced machinery, and even the Kaiba duo probably didn't know all the background information for reincarnation. He could.....tell them it was an accident, maybe? Yes, that would work. Well, he'd have to make up something about the machine backfiring, then give them a reason to stop acting so suspicious......he could tell them that....that it made you weak, maybe ill, as though it had sucked the energy out of you. And if he told them that he'd be the one used as the proverbial offering, then THAT would shut them up.  
But when it came down to what he was *really* up to......well, he'd have to wait until nightfall. He'd wait until then, and then no one would be awake to stop him......the best time to do it would be in the early morning, just in case someone had trouble getting to sleep.  
They'd find the corpse in the morning.......everyone would believe it was just an accident, that the Pegasus hadn't had time to finish fixing the machine........Pegasus already knew who they'd find that morning. They might come up with some motive, say, that grief had driven *him*, who lay there dead and stiff, to throw himself into an early grave. Maybe they'd have their suspicions, but there'd be no proof to back it up. And then they'd have to leave, they couldn't stay forever.....  
  
He thought of Cecilia, her face full of sadness.  
  
//I'm sorry Cecilia.....I'm sorry that I have to lie to you, that I have to hide all of this from you....I'm not the same man that you married seven years ago........  
  
But I'm going to do this.  
  
I have to.//  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ CK: Okkei, first off, I am SO sorry that this took forever to type up, especially when, well, nothing really happens in the chapter. You may get one more chapter of nothingness, but after that, stuff definitely happens. Anyways, I'm typing biweekly now, cuz its getting too hard to bang these out once a week. Also PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THE STORY IDEA!!!! I'm dying for replies (once again, to Sailor Twilight Assassin, THANK YOU!!!!!!!)!!!!! I really want to know if you like the story line. And lastly, as usual, review, please!!!! Dey motivate me, dey does!! 


	20. Of Myth and Legend

CK: Hey there!!! Once again, it is I, yon authoress who sucketh mightily. ((We're reading Macbeth in school)). I'm reeeeeeeally soory about the late update, but I'm fed up with me writing sucky short chapters where nothing happens, so I wrote a really really long one that has some substance. Anyways, to the responses!  
  
SweetCandie: Don't worry about not reviewing, being busy is one of those things that happens to everybody.....it sneaks up on them, ready to pounce. and then BAM! You've got schoolwork galore, and at ;east five teachers expecting you to do said work. It's a puzzlement I tell ya......but I'm off-topic. ^ ^;;;;;;;;; Anyways, don't worry about it.  
  
Sailor Twilight Assassin: Yes, I am beginning to believe that no one reads my endings....'cept you, of course..... . Hmm......well, anyways, you request to be a guest by just asking in a review, and saying what you wanna do and with who (no lemons! ^.~) AND YOU CAUGHT MY BROADWAY REFERENCE!!! FWEEEE!!!!! You read my endings AND caught the 'Guys and Dolls' thing! *bestows upon STA a chibi Pegasus plushie*  
  
Woodelf193: Aaw....you cried? *hands over tissues* I'm not sure whether to feel bad for making people sad or be happy that I was successful in making people sad. So I'll do both!!! *sniff* Yay! *sniff* Yay! *sniff* Yay!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Yugioh. Ya got nuttin on me hea. Mufufu.......  
  
BTW, my writer's block's in full swing right now, so I'm basically finding it easier just to read fanfics instead of write them, if that's any sort of apology for ya...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ Of Myth and Legend  
  
Cecilia walked along a self-made path along the shores of the island, cold waves lapping at the three-foot drop that marked its edge. The snow that had blanketed the island merely yesterday was now scarcely found, and where you could see it, it was dirty and ugly. Beautiful winters will turn into beautiful springs, but there's always that time in between when everything's just gray and murky. Then again, there's supposed to be a price for beauty......  
Cecilia sat down at the sudden drop, her legs dangling over the edge. She felt very small......this island was so large, so immense, and she was just one small person biding her time there. She felt like a child again, always unfamiliar with how big and grownup everything seemed. She picked up some pebbles and threw them into the black waters below.......gray clouds were on the horizon, a sign that rain was coming that night, or this afternoon, even, if the wind picked up. Everything surrounding her made for a very eerie and disquieting setting, but she really wasn't there to admire the scenery.......she just wanted to be alone for awhile, just to think without any interruptions. She took one of the pebbles out of her small pile and threw it out as far as she could, the small pebble create large ripples on the murky surface.  
She gripped her locket in her left hand as a small comfort in the cold, fingering it at odd intervals, and with her right hand threw the rocks into the vast, open pit known as the sea........  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~  
  
Yugi and company had come to the unanimous decision to do something that the normal, average person (a.k.a. Ryou, Yugi, or Yami) would have thought to do loooooooong ago: they were going to go and get HIS explanation for what the fuck was going on. ((A/N: I like Mai and Joey and Tristan, but I'm not awarding any of them the Nobel Prize either....just so ya know.)) If Pegasus lied, so be it, but at least it might shed the tiniest bit of light on the situation. Besides, they needed an excuse to go down and watch him work: who knows, he could be dismantling the thing to get rid of evidence, for all they knew......  
  
Actually, come to think of it, that wasn't all that unlikely.......  
  
Well, anyway, the Deadly Trio, along with Ryou, 'wandered' towards the laboratory where Pegasus was working. Yugi, however stayed behind. He was tired, and he wanted as little to do with this place as was possible. He wanted this over with as much as everyone else, and it wouldn't hurt to find Pegasus put behind bars, but none of this would bring back Tea, would it? With the thought of Tea's smiling face haunting his mind, Yugi left to go to his room, and just stay there for awhile. He hadn't really had a chance to be by himself for awhile, and he just wanted this pain to melt away. Being near the others.....it just made it worse. He just wanted to be alone, if only for a little while.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ((A/N: Okay, this is just before/if someone asks: yes, the tale of Orpheus IS a real Greek myth. I didn't make it up.))  
Okay, Pegasus usually had an almost annoying ability to keep his calm. If angry, a snide, clever comment could usually do the trick.....but apparently not so when it came to machinery........if people would invent artificial intelligence already, maybe this hunk of junk would listen and do the job it was made to DO!!!! Pegasus was approximately five seconds from either: a) kicking this thing until it was a pile of shrapnel, or b) give up and go drink something strong, when four adolescents (a.k.a. they- whom-the-authoress-is-too-lazy-to-name-at-the-moment).  
  
Cue the Stooges and their faithful sidekick, Ryou! ((A/N: Why am I being so mean to Mai, Joey, and Tristan? Even I don't know at this point.......O.o))  
  
Pegasus stood up, after what seemed to be an eternity of crouching at the machine's controls, and looked/glared at the four adolescents. "Yes?"  
  
Ryou spoke first. "Cecilia sent us down here to check on you."  
  
Pegasus's glare softened microscopically. And only for a second. But it did soften. "Tell her I'm fine, and I'll probably be done by this evening." A piece of paper Pegasus had been holding slipped from his grasp and he knelt down to pick it up, then stand erect again. ((A/N: Heehee......naughty thought, naughty thought..........)) This motion took all of about 2.5 seconds, and when Pegasus was once again upright, he noticed that there were no longer FOUR teenagers in front of him, but, in fact, three. And the three left were looking past Pegasus with a look of what can only be described as pure embarrassment. To add on top of that, Pegasus heard a heavily accented voice shriek. "What's wit all dese wires hea'?"  
  
Pegasus reeeeeeeeeeeally didn't care to look behind him at this point, but a mix of anxiety and morbid curiosity made him do so. What he found was a sugar-high Joey Wheeler fiddling with the controls of the machine that was already taking Pegasus five hours to fix.  
  
"JOSEPH!!!!!!!" The normally calm and collected Maximillian Pegasus was now yanking a fifteen year old kid on a sugar high off of the machine that refused to obey him. Which was, by the way, now making strange humming noises.  
  
"Hey, Pegsy, what's wit dis ting? Ya put all a dese red wiyas inta dese slots and dat makes no sense....."  
  
"PLEASE GET OFF OF MY MACHINE!!!!!!!!" Joey blinked, shrugged, then stepped away. And so ended the anxiety attack.  
  
Pegasus crouched down and glanced over the wiring quickly, just to make sure that nothing had been destroyed or set on fire or some similar catastrophe. A second or two before Pegasus deemed into safe, Tristan piped up. "So what is that thing, anyway?"  
  
Pegasus, somewhat startled at the abruptness of the question, chuckled lightly under his breath. "You haven't guessed what this thing does yet?"  
  
Tristan almost blushed. "Well, no, I mean yes, what I mean was....well, how does that thing even WORK?"  
  
"Hmm? Why so interested all of a sudden?" Pegasus knew why, but it was slightly amusing to watch them squirm.  
  
"We.....we just wanted to know, that's all. What's it to you?"  
  
"Pardon me if I'm incorrect, but I thought you all hated me."  
  
"..........um.........."  
  
With Tristan still trying to fabricate a story, Ryou spoke up. "Wouldn't it be obvious to you of all people? A corpse is lying in one of your rooms and you need to ask why?"  
  
Flinch........  
  
".........if you really wanted to know, then stop inventing stories and ask."  
  
"We want to know. Enlighten us."  
  
Pegasus sighed. Well, at least he'd planned for this and knew what he'd say. Shit, he'd even gotten creative.....that's the thing about kids, they'll swallow anything, and they don't even realize it.  
  
"Have any of you ever heard the tale of Orpheus, from the Greek myth?"  
  
He glanced back and saw four confused and impatient faces.  
  
"I'm not changing the topic, I assure you." He turned back and continued to fiddle with the wires. "Orpheus was a musical genius. He played a lyre so beautifully that rocks and trees moved themselves just to be able to follow him as he played. Whenever he performed, any listeners essentially came under his spell.....including a girl that later became his wife. But poor Orpheus lost the girl not too long after.....she died of snakebite. Well, Orpheus wasn't exactly happy. He wailed and moaned.....he even traveled to the Underworld just to try and get her back. Well, between his sad tale and his gift of music, he even charmed Hades, the Greek god of the dead. He was granted his wife on one condition...........he would must walk out of the Underworld, his wife behind him, until they both reached the sunlight.  
  
Orpheus was thrilled..........but as he walked his way out of the Underworld, doubts began to plague him........Was this a trick made to get rid of him? Could he really trust Hades? Even if someone was following him, was it his wife? Is there any way he could know? Finally, he gave in to temptation and looked behind him.....  
  
........and the last thing he saw was his wife, smiling sadly, and vanishing within the blink of an eye."  
  
Pegasus turned to face the four of them. "He was locked out of the Underworld soon after, and died not too long after. But I'm different than Orpheus.......I don't need to charm a god, and I have succeeded anyway......thanks to this little gadget....." He indicated the machine. "Instead of any musical talent, I've enough intelligence and patience to build this thing. And all you have to do is be willing to risk a little.......not death, actually..."  
Pegasus said that last part when he got the feeling that one of them was about to open their mouth. Instead of focusing on the group of teens, he focused on a strand of hair that he decided to play with.".....It sucks years out of your life, out of your strength........it's like aging very rapidly, and however many years you give, that's how many the reincarnated person has until death, assuming nothing happens.......which means Cecilia should have a life expectancy of, what, sixty more years?"  
  
Ryou was practically growling when he spoke. "Shut up. If that was true, then Tea wouldn't have died."  
  
Pegasus took his focus off of his strand of hair and looked back to his machine, then looked back at Ryou. "Tell me, Ryou~boi.....you saw Ms. Gardner die, didn't she fiddle with the knobs quite a bit?"  
  
"........."  
  
".........which changes everything, after all, since the machine is set by age, weight, and gender, not to mention by how many years you want gone, so from what I can tell, the machine was set for a thirty year old man that weighed twelve pounds who wanted to get rid of 100 years of existence."  
  
With that announcement came various reactions. Tristan looked satisfied with the explanation. Mai looked comically suspicious. Joey looked confused. Ryou looked emotionless.  
  
Pegasus noticed Mai's face and added. "And since I know none of you trust me, I'll take the fall for your friend, if anyone needed to know."  
  
Mai's face quickly changed to something along the lines of he-either-just- pulled-my-leg-or-I'm-hallucinating.  
  
Pegasus, satisfied with his fabrication, changed the topic. "By the way, Joey~boi, what did you do with these wires?"  
  
Joey snapped out of his confused daze, and walked over to the contraption. "Oh, I just figured that if you were trying to fix this thing, that maybe the wires should go like that, so maybe that'll save youse some trouble."  
  
Pegasus was practically in awe. Was Joey Wheeler really smarter than he seemed? Did he just fix a machine that was taking him - the inventor - several hours to reconstruct? Had they all misjudged Joey Wheeler? These questions were all answered instantly when, as part of Joey's demonstration, Joey turned on the contraption, which made a quiet humming noise to show that it was starting up.....  
  
.............and plumes of black smoke immediately began hissing out of the back of the chamber.  
  
Pegasus began to loudly screech profanities as he quickly went over to pull the plug on the apparatus, causing the smoke to die down somewhat. With a quick glare in Joey's direction, Pegasus sighed tiredly, then stated. "Tell Cecilia I MIGHT be done my tomorrow morning."  
  
With that, the four teenagers took their mutually understood cue to leave.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~  
  
A few minutes later, Ryou walked down of one of Pegasus's endless hallways, separate from his friends. Unlike the other three, he didn't swallow any of what Pegasus said. But he didn't know how to prove it. But he did know someone who probably could.  
He found the right door and knocked. When Mokuba answered, Ryou smiled sweetly.  
  
"Excuse me, Mokuba, but can I please talk to your brother for a minute?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ CK: Oooooooh, cliffy!.......well, sorta. Anyhoo, I'm sorry that this took so long to write!!! I'm sorry that not much happened! I'm sorry that I suck! But if Sailor Twilight Assassin is correct, than she's the only one reading this apology......so I'm sorry, Sailor-person! 


	21. okkei, so I haven't been on lately

CK: Okkei.......I'm really, really sorry that I haven't posted in, what, forever? Aaaanyways, I'm really sorry. It's just I'm not as enthused about writing fanfictions as I have been in the last several months. So, what I'm gonna do is try hard to finish this story, then maybe I'll take a break from writing for awhile. I'd feel bad if I didn't finish this, so don't worry about that. I haven't got the next chapter yet, but hopefully it will be up soon. Gomen nasai! 


End file.
